Flame hawkfish with white spots around mouth

[fisheriesdoc]

I noticed my hawkfish has these white spots around it’s mouth that seemingly formed overnight. It looks a little fuzzy and is blotchy on the lips with an outer ring of spots. It almost looks like an injury but the spots make me think it could be ich. I haven’t added anything to the tank on over two months and the last fish addition was nearly a year ago. I tested water quality this morning and everything looked normal. Any thoughts on what I am dealing with and how I should treat it? The fish is acting and eating normally.

 

[fisheriesdoc]

One more bit of context. I definitely have lymphocystis in the system, but I have never seen it manifest this way.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Lymphocystis is pretty common on the mouth of some species. Any chance of getting better pics under white light?
Jay

 

[fisheriesdoc]

Lymphocystis is pretty common on the mouth of some species. Any chance of getting better pics under white light?
Jay

As it always seems to go, I left for vacation after seeing the problem. The spots are now gone and all of the other fishes look and act normally. I did edit the original photo to brighten it up so maybe it will help.

thanks!
David