A very ugly fish…

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This guy was purchased as a molly miller blenny from my LFS. He grew his first “bubble” within a month of having him and they have spread and grown in size for the last 9 months.

I think I posted on here in the beginning and nobody knew what it was, so I’m just riding it out. He seems fine otherwise and he is quite the personality in my tank. I wouldn’t mind knowing what exactly I’m dealing with. I’m not sure he will be able to swim well if they get much bigger…

 

[threebuoys]

@Jay Hemdal have you ever seen anything like this?

 

[p1u5h13r4m24]

Og bounce blenny. Incredible. However I’m assuming this isn’t good. Curious as to what the biologist say about this!

 

[twentyleagues]

Wow thats crazy! I have never seen something like this before.

 

[Should I]

following

 

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Found an old photo from December so you can see the progression.

 

[twentyleagues]

My guess would be viral infection. Its just a guess though as I have no real background on this. Any other fish seem to be acting differently since its addition?

 

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My guess would be viral infection. Its just a guess though as I have no real background on this. Any other fish seem to be acting differently since its addition?

That’s my guess - or perhaps some kind of fungus. It has not spread to any other inhabitants, and all seem healthy/happy.

 

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I asked ChatGPT and after ruling out some other possibilities, we landed at this:

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

This guy was purchased as a molly miller blenny from my LFS. He grew his first “bubble” within a month of having him and they have spread and grown in size for the last 9 months.

I think I posted on here in the beginning and nobody knew what it was, so I’m just riding it out. He seems fine otherwise and he is quite the personality in my tank. I wouldn’t mind knowing what exactly I’m dealing with. I’m not sure he will be able to swim well if they get much bigger…

I see this once in awhile on fish posted here (clownfish mostly). In 50+ years, I've never had a case in my own fish, so I can only go on reports from other people. I've never seen a case this severe though.

These are clear fluid filled vesicles of unknown (to me anyway) origin. They are sometimes fatal. I have guessed that their cause is viral, but there is no way to know for sure.

Jay

 

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I see this once in awhile on fish posted here (clownfish mostly). In 50+ years, I've never had a case in my own fish, so I can only go on reports from other people. I've never seen a case this severe though.

These are clear fluid filled vesicles of unknown (to me anyway) origin. They are sometimes fatal. I have guessed that their cause is viral, but there is no way to know for sure.

Jay

Thanks, Jay. What are your thoughts on ChatGPT’s conclusion above that it is a benign hemangioma or lymphangioma?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thanks, Jay. What are your thoughts on ChatGPT’s conclusion above that it is a benign hemangioma or lymphangioma?

Can you see blood vessels? If so, then I'd say that Hemangioma is a good possibility, I've never seen that before though....

 

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Can you see blood vessels? If so, then I'd say that Hemangioma is a good possibility, I've never seen that before though....

Yes, it is difficult to capture in the photos, but there is a web of very fine dark blue veins visible on the surface of the vesicles.

 

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@Jay Hemdal - considering the apparent rarity, do you know of any labs that could do pathology on a biopsy? Maybe for free if it supports their research interests?

 

[Should I]

i could be completely wrong so wait for jay to chime in but could you possibly pop the bubbles with a fine sterile needle to give the fish some relief

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

@Jay Hemdal - considering the apparent rarity, do you know of any labs that could do pathology on a biopsy? Maybe for free if it supports their research interests?

Sorry, fish histopathology is very expensive and you’d have to sacrifice the fish. I’ve never heard of a lab running free samples, they charge aquariums $400+ and then write a paper from it (grin). I used Northwest Zoopath, but that was many years ago. You might find a path lab at a university, but I’m not sure which ones.

 

[twentyleagues]

Sorry, fish histopathology is very expensive and you’d have to sacrifice the fish. I’ve never heard of a lab running free samples, they charge aquariums $400+ and then write a paper from it (grin). I used Northwest Zoopath, but that was many years ago. You might find a path lab at a university, but I’m not sure which ones.

I think Michigan State would have one, dont you? They have a veterinary program and lots of agg, fish and wildlife stuff like that. Maybe not but it makes sense to me at least. But yes you would most likely lose the fish, maybe more of a necropsy should it not make it?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I think Michigan State would have one, dont you? They have a veterinary program and lots of agg, fish and wildlife stuff like that. Maybe not but it makes sense to me at least. But yes you would most likely lose the fish, maybe more of a necropsy should it not make it?

MSU has a huge veterinary program. I know they take large zoo animals in for necropsy so that their students can get experience with exotic species. I just don’t have a current contact, or if they have any interest in small exotics cases.

 

[hllb]

Sorry, fish histopathology is very expensive and you’d have to sacrifice the fish. I’ve never heard of a lab running free samples, they charge aquariums $400+ and then write a paper from it (grin). I used Northwest Zoopath, but that was many years ago. You might find a path lab at a university, but I’m not sure which ones.

I did water testing for pathogens through aquabiomics and they found a rare disease in my tank that normally affects farmed salmon. I had lost 30% of my fish at that point. I treated for weeks with peroxide and then the tank tested clean. They were interested in taking any deceased fish I had for testing. I didn’t have any to give them though as I didn’t lose any after that point.

 

[Aquarist76]

I asked ChatGPT and after ruling out some other possibilities, we landed at this:

So as a human doctor (pediatric head and neck surgeon), I don't think these are hemangioma/lymphangiomas. Those are (mostly) solid tumors and are deep tissue and not superficial. I've seen a bunch of them and they look nothing like this (although rarely a unicystic/macrocystic lymphatic malformation can look somewhat like this but are usually not so superficial). This is more like pemphigoid/pemphigus. Now whether fish can get those or not, I have no idea. Those have a genetic predisposition and aren't due to infection.

Other thoughts would be like an eczema type process or a herpes type infection (although those should come and go).

These don't look infectious to me; more likely autoimmune. May be a virus, but more likely a genetic thing I'd think. Probably why you see it so rarely. If it was infectious/virus I'd expect other fish in the tank to be affected.

Also noteworthy, this seems to only be affecting the fin areas. In general I wouldn't expect fins to have lymphatics. We don't have lymphatics in our hair/nails/dermis. Lymphatics are deeper.