Adult yellow wrasse cannot right itself

[drolmaeye]

I have had a yellow wrasse (H. chrysus) for a little over 2.5 yrs (purchased as a juvenile). I have observed for the past few months white/light areas of discoloration very similar to what is described in this thread (which may or may not be related):

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/yellow-coris-wrasse-had-bristle-worm-spines-in-him-commonly-today-i-came-home-to-him-on-the-verge-of-death.1153397/

Fish is also bullied fairly regularly by a large Maroon Clown (A. biaculeatus).

A couple of weeks ago the wrasse started to really take a nosedive. White areas growing in size, fins badly damaged, reddish-purpleish spot near abdomen. It was having trouble burying itself completely at night, weakening, and it eventually became moribund. I went to net it after apparent death and it slowly wiggled away. I easily net it and put it in an observation tank by itself to die peacefully.

It is doing significantly better (energywise) and even trying to take food. But seems it cannot right itself. It sometimes puts its nose in the corner and appears to try to right itself but then goes back to belly up. It sinks unless it makes an effort to leave the bottom

ETA: Normal diet is Formula Two flakes (herbivore) in the morning, mysis and brine shrimp in the evening.

Does this sound like swim bladder specifically? Or just general abdominal swelling or fluid buildup? Something else? And most importantly:

QUESTION: Is there any treatment or protocol that might help this fish?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I have had a yellow wrasse (H. chrysus) for a little over 2.5 yrs (purchased as a juvenile). I have observed for the past few months white/light areas of discoloration very similar to what is described in this thread (which may or may not be related):

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/yellow-coris-wrasse-had-bristle-worm-spines-in-him-commonly-today-i-came-home-to-him-on-the-verge-of-death.1153397/

Fish is also bullied fairly regularly by a large Maroon Clown (A. biaculeatus).

A couple of weeks ago the wrasse started to really take a nosedive. White areas growing in size, fins badly damaged, reddish-purpleish spot near abdomen. It was having trouble burying itself completely at night, weakening, and it eventually became moribund. I went to net it after apparent death and it slowly wiggled away. I easily net it and put it in an observation tank by itself to die peacefully.

It is doing significantly better (energywise) and even trying to take food. But seems it cannot right itself. It sometimes puts its nose in the corner and appears to try to right itself but then goes back to belly up. It sinks unless it makes an effort to leave the bottom

ETA: Normal diet is Formula Two flakes (herbivore) in the morning, mysis and brine shrimp in the evening.

Does this sound like swim bladder specifically? Or just general abdominal swelling or fluid buildup? Something else? And most importantly:

QUESTION: Is there any treatment or protocol that might help this fish?

Sorry - but an upside down fish are typically moribund, actively dying. There is usually not much you can do at that point. This may be an infection from the previous injury. I don't see any evidence of abdominal or air bladder swelling.

 

[drolmaeye]

I'm back to follow up. Yellow wrasse is still alive and appearance has improved quite a bit since isolating him in a quarantine tank approximately two weeks ago, but it still cannot right itself. When it swims it makes an effort to right itself, but its natural state is to roll upside-down and sink to the bottom. It appears to have a slightly distended area near its vent, but I am no expert on fish anatomy so I am not certain there is any abnormal appearance.

Just stopping by one last time to confirm with @Jay Hemdal or others with experience that there is no treatment I can attempt to help this fish. Please see video below of fish swimming briefly and then going to an 'at rest' position.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I'm back to follow up. Yellow wrasse is still alive and appearance has improved quite a bit since isolating him in a quarantine tank approximately two weeks ago, but it still cannot right itself. When it swims it makes an effort to right itself, but its natural state is to roll upside-down and sink to the bottom. It appears to have a slightly distended area near its vent, but I am no expert on fish anatomy so I am not certain there is any abnormal appearance.

Just stopping by one last time to confirm with @Jay Hemdal or others with experience that there is no treatment I can attempt to help this fish. Please see video below of fish swimming briefly and then going to an 'at rest' position.

That looks like UNWD, is the wrasse eating, or at least trying to?

UNWD is mostly seen in newly acquired wrasse, but with recent information, the root cause in some cases is possibly spinal injury, so that could happen in any fish.

Sorry, I don’t have any treatment to suggest. If it isn’t eating, you should consider euthanizing it.

 

[drolmaeye]

That looks like UNWD, is the wrasse eating, or at least trying to?

UNWD is mostly seen in newly acquired wrasse, but with recent information, the root cause in some cases is possibly spinal injury, so that could happen in any fish.

Sorry, I don’t have any treatment to suggest. If it isn’t eating, you should consider euthanizing it.

Thanks for your reply.

I thought about UNWD, but I was not familiar with many suspected cases popping up after the fish had been in captivity for a long period so I figured it was not this. Also, its swimming is not as random and convoluted as what I've seen for other suspected cases. In this case, it really is just a competition between the fish's effort to stay right-side-up and nature's (recent) insistence that it live upside-down.

The wrasse does still attempt to eat and although its control is not as good as when it was in prime health, it manages to pick shrimp and flakes out of the water.

I will observe feeding closely over the next couple of days to try to get a good feel for how much it is consuming. I recognize this is just one little fish, but still I will be upset if I have to euthanize it.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks for your reply.

I thought about UNWD, but I was not familiar with many suspected cases popping up after the fish had been in captivity for a long period so I figured it was not this. Also, its swimming is not as random and convoluted as what I've seen for other suspected cases. In this case, it really is just a competition between the fish's effort to stay right-side-up and nature's (recent) insistence that it live upside-down.

The wrasse does still attempt to eat and although its control is not as good as when it was in prime health, it manages to pick shrimp and flakes out of the water.

I will observe feeding closely over the next couple of days to try to get a good feel for how much it is consuming. I recognize this is just one little fish, but still I will be upset if I have to euthanize it.

Well, if you do determine that euthanasia is needed, I have a post on that:

Fish Euthanasia

Euthanasia Euthanasia is a word derived from two Greek words that roughly translates to “good death”. In other words, euthanasia is the painless killing of an organism. In general usage, there is also the underlying understanding that euthanasia is performed on terminal patients only. This...

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