Parasitic Isopod ID

[Randyp79]

I ordered 3 flasher wrasses and a Copperband Butterfly from Bluezoo. All 4 fish were placed in QT. The Copperband didn't make it through the night and Bluezoo provided me with store credit. Unfortunately, one of the wrasses unexpectedly died today and when I pulled him out of the QT tank I noticed something in his mouth. I got a pair of tweezers and this is what I found!! Can someone ID this critter?

 

[ThRoewer]

Wow - a tongue eating isopod!

I've started a thread about them before: Tongue Eating Isopods found in Clownfish at Lembeh

 

[Randyp79]

Yep, tongue [emoji13] eating Isopod!

What should I do with other fish in QT? Since it is so rare I am not sure if there is proof copper is effective treatment.

 

[ThRoewer]

Same treatment as against Argulus: Dylox

From what I've found on them there are many species and each is very specific on the fish they attach to and feed off. So the one you got may only infect that particular genus of wrasses.
Though wouldn't take any risks with this.

Did you inform Blue Zoo about this?

 

[tylersarah]

Whooooa, that one is new to me.

 

[mr.feebles]

the tongue eating isopods are generally harmless-they eventually replace the tongue and the fish keeps eating and living like nothing's going on, iirc. i doubt the isopod had anything to do w/ the fish's demise. (though it shouldn't have been sold to anyone, it's not always that easy of a thing to notice, given its location )

 

[ThRoewer]

the tongue eating isopods are generally harmless-they eventually replace the tongue and the fish keeps eating and living like nothing's going on, iirc. i doubt the isopod had anything to do w/ the fish's demise. (though it shouldn't have been sold to anyone, it's not always that easy of a thing to notice, given its location )

It is a parasite and it lives off the fish's blood. It may not kill the fish, but it for sure weakens it.
In the wild it may not do too much harm (though research shows that it stuns growth), but in captivity and especially during transport from collection location to fish store it may just be enough to seal the fish's fate.

 

[AndrewNC]

Wowzers. What did bluezoo do about this?

 

[Dmorty217]

Same treatment as against Argulus: Dylox

From what I've found on them there are many species and each is very specific on the fish they attach to and feed off. So the one you got may only infect that particular genus of wrasses.
Though wouldn't take any risks with this.

Did you inform Blue Zoo about this?

Be careful with Dylox... It's no joke

 

[Randyp79]

Wowzers. What did bluezoo do about this?

I posted in Blue Zoo sponsor forum and they have not responded. Fish died on day 13 after my purchase, so I really didn't expect them to do much, but I just wanted them to know and wanted others to be aware of my experience.

From my research it looks like there are over 200 species of these isopod and most are specific to a particular species of fish. Also, most species will cause death to the fish and only one species, Cymothoa Exigua, actually takes the place of the tongue and allows the fish to survive.

Looks like the only thing that kills this thing in QT would be insecticide Dylox, which is very hard on fish. I will probably end up losing the other 2 wrasses [emoji35]

 

[ThRoewer]

I posted in Blue Zoo sponsor forum and they have not responded. Fish died on day 13 after my purchase, so I really didn't expect them to do much, but I just wanted them to know and wanted others to be aware of my experience.

I would contact Blue Zoo's customer service directly about this.

From my research it looks like there are over 200 species of these isopod and most are specific to a particular species of fish. Also, most species will cause death to the fish and only one species, Cymothoa Exigua, actually takes the place of the tongue and allows the fish to survive.

I assume that 200 species is for parasitic isopods in general.
But there are also many species (or sub species) of these tongue eating isopods of which each has its specific host.
If you think about it for a moment that makes sense as fish come in all kinds of sizes with differently sized mouth cavities and tongue sizes. And I don't think one species of isopods can be that size variable.

Looks like the only thing that kills this thing in QT would be insecticide Dylox, which is very hard on fish. I will probably end up losing the other 2 wrasses [emoji35]

Try hyposalinity at 1.010 kg/L for a month or two. If you are lucky these isopods can't handle that.

 

[jbvdhp]

Gross. I had a similar pod issue on live rock I bought years ago, would smell garlic soaked food and only came out at night. Nasty looking bugs.

I hope they'll replace ur fish.