Jay Hemdal
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In my QT. Anyone know what this is?
I realize that this is an old thread, but it got referenced in another thread today. These are not worms. They are egg cases from a parasitic copepod. Here is an excerpt from my fish disease book about them:
The purple firefish, Nemateleotris magnifica has a copepod parasite specific to that species – Serpentisaccus magnificae. Described by George Blasiola in 1979, this parasite is seen on newly imported firefish. The body of the parasite is buried in the flank of the fish, behind the gills, either on one or both sides. When the female copepod develops its egg sacs, these emerge from the fish’s skin as tiny coiled strands. Treatment should not be attempted for this parasite, as the adults are buried too deeply into the body of the fish for physical removal to be done safely, and no known chemotherapeutic will eliminate internal crustacean parasites without also harming the host fish. This copepod is thought to have indirect development with a series of planktonic larval stages, so there is no real concern of the eggs hatching and then fully developing and causing reinfection of the host.
Jay
