Unknown skin parasite -- ID/suggestions needed

[kiknchikn]

I recently purchased an Orange Diamond Sleeper Goby and yesterday when it was staring at me through the glass I noticed something on it's eye that appeared to be a parasite of some kind. Without hesitation I snapped a few macro photos of the eyes to see what it could be:

Look very closely at the eye and you will see a translucent worm-like object on it. It appears to be some kind of parasitic flatworm or perhaps a trematode? Anyone have any ideas what it could be and how I can treat the poor guy?

I was thinking a series of fresh water dips or a cleaner shrimp might help, but I definitely could use some suggestions.

I have also posted this on the wetwebmedia help forum, so hopefully one or both of these forums will result some answers

 

[AnimaliA]

Looks like saltwater Ich to me...but I am not an expert here..

 

[kiknchikn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9590530#post9590530 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AnimaliA
Looks like saltwater Ich to me...but I am not an expert here..

It's most definitely not ich (It's a few mm in size, way too large to be ich), although he might have that too for all I know. You might be looking at the wrong thing so I'll highlight it just to help everyone see what I'm talking about

 

[AnimaliA]

Hmm...sorry, I am not sure then

 

[wan 2 B reef'in]

Looks very much like flukes, try doing a freshwater dip. It should look like you just de-scaled your fish. it only takes a few minutes to remove them all.

 

[mano]

I agree with flukes and freshwater dip for treatment.

 

[TerryB]

Looks like Neobenedenia melleni to me. They can cause eye lesions that lead to blindness and bacterial infection. Several good choices for treatment. If you have the fish in quarantine then a week or so of hyposalinity should easily do the trick. Hypo will also greatly reduce the egg viability of this parasite. Praziquantel is safe to use. 2mg/gal for 24hours will probably do the trick. A freshwater dip may work, but may not help if there are eggs in the aquarium. Formalin dip would probably work to. I favor the treatments that don't require netting or handling of the fish, especially when nets often injure the eyes of fish. If the eye is cloudy after the parasite is gone then you may want to use Maracyn-Two for a possible secondary bacterial infection of the eye.

Terry B

 

[kiknchikn]

Thanks for the responses everyone. Would a cleaner shrimp help at all? I'm not sure if they eat nematodes, or if the goby will even allow the shrimp to clean it, but that would be great if it did since this fish is VERY difficult to catch and I don't have QT tank available since this tank is at my office and space is very limited.

 

[TerryB]

Cleaner shrimp is unlikely to help and it is not a nemotode. A Qtank is not really optional in this hobby if you don't want to lose a lot of fish. maybe you could keep a Qtank at home. You may get lucky and a freshwater dip or formalin dip will work, but you will still have to catch the fish.

Terry B

 

[kiknchikn]

I'm pretty sure it's not a Neobenedenia melleni and probably just a fluke/trematode of some kind, since the vast majority of them are not found on the eye. That's actually the first and only one I've seen on an eye thus far, the rest are spread over the non-fin portions of the body.

On a happier note I managed to catch him using his tendencies to my advantage. All I had to do was lay a plastic cup on it's side, bury it in the sand a little bit, and spread some food around infront of it. After about 2 hours, after the hermits and nassarius cleaned up, ol' Gil (his name is Gilgamesh) came hopping by to do his part. I trapped him in the cup with a fish net and that was that. Pretty easy really

He's residing in my DIY 5g refugium until I'm ready to dip him. I guess I'll have to regularly feed him mysis shrimp, since the DSB in the fuge is only a month old and there isn't enough life in there to sustain him. Anyone have any ideas what else I could feed him in there?

 

[TerryB]

Neobenedenia melleni is a large species of tremetode. It is often called the “eye fluke”. Here is a direct quote from Dr.Noga’s book “Fish Disease Diagnosis and Treatment” :

“Neobenedenia melleni causes serious skin damage and has a predilection for the eye.”

I am betting this is what you are seeing.

Terry B

 

[andrewsmart]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9599757#post9599757 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TerryB
Neobenedenia melleni is a large species of tremetode. It is often called the “eye fluke”. Here is a direct quote from Dr.Noga’s book “Fish Disease Diagnosis and Treatment” :

“Neobenedenia melleni causes serious skin damage and has a predilection for the eye.”

I am betting this is what you are seeing.

Terry B

i take it that is a book worth reading terry are there any others on fish diseases you would recomend.

 

[TerryB]

Dr. Noga's book is a college text book and probably a bit too advanced for the average hobbyist. It is also expensive. I would suggest the "Manual of Fish Health" by Andrews, Excell and Carrington.

Terry B

 

[andrewsmart]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9600540#post9600540 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TerryB
Dr. Noga's book is a college text book and probably a bit too advanced for the average hobbyist. It is also expensive. I would suggest the "Manual of Fish Health" by Andrews, Excell and Carrington.

Terry B

cheers i noticed the cost but the exchange rate for th pund is excellent just now thinking of taking advantage and getting a more powerful skimmer

will check out your recomendation thanks again.

 

[HookedOnCoral]

I had something similer to this today. I freshwater dipped my tang and it come right off. He is just very stressed right now and laying on his side. I would said 4+ things like that come off of him. One was off the eye. They are flukes.