Please help: mystery growth on blenny

[kelp47]

Hi. If anyone can shed some light on my blenny's problem, I would love to hear it (problem and/or solution)! I haven't been able to find much information in my online search.

I have a seaweed blenny who has a growth under his pectoral fins (it might actually be one growth under EACH fin, but they've kind of grown together). See the photo below. It is somewhat translucent, and I can see what appear to be capillaries running through it. I would say (in my knowingly unprofessional point of view) that it looks like a tumor. I noticed a lump under each pectoral fin a while back, but I though that maybe I just hadn't noticed them before, but now it seems they've suddenly gotten bigger, and it really just looks like one large growth now.

I have had him for nearly a year. Nothing new has been added to the tank in quite a while. I have been battling a bit of red slime algae, but that's the only issue I can think of. He is in a 75 gal tank with only one other fish (pajama cardinal), a few pieces of soft coral and a typical cuc.

 

[kelp47]

I just realized I left out some important information. The blenny seems to be acting fine and eating well. He might be a bit more skiddish now, but that may be due to my trying to photograph him more lately, which he does not like. He has always looked like he is flashing because that's what blennies do--stir up sand--so it's hard to say about this behavior.

 

[ThRoewer]

As you said, it looks like a tumor.

If it was my fish and this would keep growing I would catch him out to have a closer look at it under my microscope.

 

[kelp47]

As you said, it looks like a tumor.

If it was my fish and this would keep growing I would catch him out to have a closer look at it under my microscope.

And what would I be looking for?

 

[ThRoewer]

Confirm that it is a growth and not a parasite.
See how the fish reacts if you touch it.
If it is a growth, how it is attached and if there is a way to surgically remove it.

From your description I gather that this has been or is still growing. So sooner or later it will start to impair the fish.

 

[kelp47]

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this? I really appreciate ThRoewer's advice, but I don't believe I'm qualified to do these procedures. I might cause more harm than good.

 

[kelp47]

Bump. Any other ideas?

 

[ThRoewer]

By reading up on other diseases I stumbled across this:

"NEMATODES
...
Visible signs of infection may include hemorrhaging, cysts or granuloma formation (a granuloma is a reaction by immune cells in which the cells try to "œwall off" some foreign body, in this case, the worm. Granulomas formed around worms can look like little brown "œrock-like" areas in the shape of the worm, but will be surrounded by a distinct clear area at their very edge), external lumps or nodules, inflammation, and necrosis (presence of dead and dying tissue.
..."
Source: http://www.chucksaddiction.com/disease.html

 

[kelp47]

Thank you! I'll read up on this.

 

[kelp47]

I just wanted to ask one more time if there are any ideas about my Blenny. Below is another photo I took, though I don't believe it will really provide any new information. My current thought, after much research, is that this is some sort of untreatable growth/tumor.

To recap, this mass has been growing over a period a few months or more, yet he isn't acting strange and is eating fine. I assume that this means it is not any type of infection, as it would probably have grown faster and caused a behavioral change. Can anyone confirm this? If there was a chance it was an infection, I would attempt to treat him for this, but I don't want to put him through undue stress and possibly worsen his condition by attempting to catch him, QT and medicate him if it's not going to do any good.

It seems that any other issues that may manifest themselves in a similar fashion would also have progressed more quickly, so there are others I have ruled out as well.

Also, I had planned to get a couple of clownfish tomorrow and put them in my QT tank, where they will stay for at least four weeks before going into the display. If this is indeed a tumor on my Blenny, then I see no reason not to move forward with my plans. There is only one other fish in the aquarium with the blenny right now, and he seems fine. They've been together for 5 months.

Let me know if there is any other information I can provide to help diagnose him. Thanks!