Frogfish Mouth Damaged?

[BloopFish]

Just got in an order from online, and I noticed immediately after putting the frogfish in it's holding tank that it had something weird going on with its mouth. It appears to have a damaged mouth? I see a broken bone and perhaps some exposed flesh, and it opens and closes as the fish breathes. Do you guys think it is a broken mouth? If so, how should I treat this guy?

 

[BloopFish]

Also, when you compare these two pictures it is clear that the white part opens and closes as he/she breathes. I am currently isolating it from the main tank.

 

[BloopFish]

Also a video included to show the mouth moving.

 

[BloopFish]

It seems to look worse now. It can't swallow fish even if it tries... any opinion or help would be great.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

@Jay Hemdal any recommendations?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

It seems to look worse now. It can't swallow fish even if it tries... any opinion or help would be great.

Hi, that looks very serious, as I think you've already determined. Two things - either the shipper sent it to you in that condition (it does look infected to me) or the fish rubbed its jaw during shipping (I've seen this happen before, especially with Rhinopias scorpionfish). What happens is that normally sedentary, bottom dwelling fish get put in a shipping bag and they freak out and just try to swim the entire time - damaging their lower jaw.

So, after calling the dealer, what to do? There isn't any mechanical fix you can do - I've had veterinarians try to use cyanoacrylate glue to fix things like this, but usually without success. Luckily, anglers can go a long time without food. I would hold it in a dimly lit treatment tank and dose it with a broad spectrum, gram negative antibiotic and see if it can heal on its own. You could use Furan-2 or Neoplex.

Jay

 

[BloopFish]

Hi, that looks very serious, as I think you've already determined. Two things - either the shipper sent it to you in that condition (it does look infected to me) or the fish rubbed its jaw during shipping (I've seen this happen before, especially with Rhinopias scorpionfish). What happens is that normally sedentary, bottom dwelling fish get put in a shipping bag and they freak out and just try to swim the entire time - damaging their lower jaw.

So, after calling the dealer, what to do? There isn't any mechanical fix you can do - I've had veterinarians try to use cyanoacrylate glue to fix things like this, but usually without success. Luckily, anglers can go a long time without food. I would hold it in a dimly lit treatment tank and dose it with a broad spectrum, gram negative antibiotic and see if it can heal on its own. You could use Furan-2 or Neoplex.

Jay

Thank you so much. I'll definitely try to pick up some antibiotics as soon as possible.

Speaking of the dealer, I did talk with the dealer's customer support. They stated that they couldn't tell if the mouth was broken or if they were the frogfish's teeth (I guess the person doesn't really know what a frogfish looks like?). They were shown the same pictures as in the thread. They said they'll have to contact someone who works more with the fish to confirm whether or not the fish is actually damaged and to tell me how to treat them. That was on Thursday and I'm still waiting to hear back.

Its mouth does look marginally better lately, but it is clearly not happy still. Hopefully things will work out.

 

[MB_Fahrer]

Honestly, it's not just DD. It doesn't look broken to me either--it looks irritated/inflamed. I also take offense at your post entitled "you don't see what you get with DD." DD is by far the best place to buy quality livestock. I've shopped with them for as long as I've been in this hobby. How are they supposed to foresee a problem that occurred during shipping? (rhetorical question) You received the fish in the picture as promised, it's just injured. Hope everything turns out okay.