Black ich (Paravortex)

[Marlies]

Hi everyone,

I have a special request, and hope someone might help me out on this. I am a PhD student in the Zoology lab at Hasselt University, Belgium. I am working on evolution of endosymbiotic (i.e. living inside the body of another species) flatworms.

One of the species I am interested in is Paravortex sp. (Turbellaria, Rhabdocoela). I know both from literature, as well as from diverse hobby forums, that this worm can cause tremendous damage in saltwater aquaria. It causes the so-called "black spot disease" or "black ich" in several species of marine fish. As the name implies, the disease is characterised by the appearance of several small, black spots all over the fish. Especially tangs appear to be quite vulnerable to the infection.

However, until now, the species has never been studied in depth, and that's where I need your help. I am looking for someone who is currently dealing with a black ich infection in his or her tank, and who is willing to send over some pictures of the animals, or, if possible, to even send over a couple of worms to Belgium (e.g. in alcohol or formaldehyde). I will of course cover any shipping costs and, if you are interested, will keep you up to date on my research of the worms.
If you are the person I am looking for, or if you know someone who could help me out on this, please let me know. Thank you in advance!

Cheers,
Marlies

 

[Maritimer]

#reefsquad - if you happen to stumble across any "black ich", let's maybe keep Marlies' study in mind!

Marlies, welcome to Reef2Reef! I hope that you can share the results of your studies here someday.

~Bruce

 

[4FordFamily]

Hi everyone,

I have a special request, and hope someone might help me out on this. I am a PhD student in the Zoology lab at Hasselt University, Belgium. I am working on evolution of endosymbiotic (i.e. living inside the body of another species) flatworms.

One of the species I am interested in is Paravortex sp. (Turbellaria, Rhabdocoela). I know both from literature, as well as from diverse hobby forums, that this worm can cause tremendous damage in saltwater aquaria. It causes the so-called "black spot disease" or "black ich" in several species of marine fish. As the name implies, the disease is characterised by the appearance of several small, black spots all over the fish. Especially tangs appear to be quite vulnerable to the infection.

However, until now, the species has never been studied in depth, and that's where I need your help. I am looking for someone who is currently dealing with a black ich infection in his or her tank, and who is willing to send over some pictures of the animals, or, if possible, to even send over a couple of worms to Belgium (e.g. in alcohol or formaldehyde). I will of course cover any shipping costs and, if you are interested, will keep you up to date on my research of the worms.
If you are the person I am looking for, or if you know someone who could help me out on this, please let me know. Thank you in advance!

Cheers,
Marlies

Welcome home, you will love it here!

I see it being difficult to ship anything in solution across country lines, but perhaps im wrong! If there is a will, there is a way!

 

[DLHDesign]

Welcome to R2R! Best of luck in finding what you need - and in your studies. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for anyone dealing with this!

 

[Humblefish]

While I applaud your efforts, it would be difficult explaining to Customs why you were shipping an infectious fish disease in alcohol or formaldehyde. At least from the US.

It would probably be easier if one of our members from the EU had access to a turbellarian infected fish and could mail you some skin scrapes. Or believe it or not, sending you the fish might be more expensive but less complicated in the long run. Good luck!

 

[DLHDesign]

sending you the fish might be more expensive but less complicated in the long run.

I was going to suggest contacting online retailers to see if they might be willing to donate (or at least sell) any such infected fish they find. I imagine there are at least some that they get...

 

[Marlies]

Thank you everyone for your kind responses and for thinking along! Actually, we quite often ship small flatworms (in ethanol, or more frequently, on glass slides), from the US to Belgium. This usually concerns preserved museum specimens, for instance, from the Smithsonian Institution. So, in case someone finds the worms and would be willing to help, I have a written declaration for customs and an import permit from our government ready. As suggested, I am also contacting fish retailers, as well as fellow parasitologists, but no luck so far.
Cheers and thanks again!