Lesions on Firefish

[FLighthouse3]

Hi,

I noticed lesions on my elegant firefish today between the dorsal/anal fins that are on both sides in almost exactly the same location. I do not believe they were visible last night. My best guess is abrasion from the rocks it sleeps between, but have the feeling it could potentially be marks from my royal gramma (little bit of a bully) or something worse. All inhabitants are put through QT and no new additions for the last 6 weeks. Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi,

I noticed lesions on my elegant firefish today between the dorsal/anal fins that are on both sides in almost exactly the same location. I do not believe they were visible last night. My best guess is abrasion from the rocks it sleeps between, but have the feeling it could potentially be marks from my royal gramma (little bit of a bully) or something worse. All inhabitants are put through QT and no new additions for the last 6 weeks. Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated!

Coral reef fish rarely just injure themselves on rocks - they are well adapted to avoiding that. If a fish is severely startled, that can happen, but in those cases the snout hits first, so you usually see lesions there.

Flukes can cause this, as well as tankmate aggression.

For flukes, watching for scratching and flashing. Aggression can be tough to identify - it happens so quickly, and while you’re watching the fish, they stop to watch you. Setting up a phone to video the tank and then leaving the room sometimes works. Other times you can infer aggression - if the filefish swims away from the gramma, that means it is uncomfortable in its presence.

 

[FLighthouse3]

Thank you for the insight! I will try that and hope for the best. Aggression may be culprit here, as I’ve witnessed the royal gramma chase the firefish on a normal day. I was out of town sunday night so they missed dinner/ early breakfast. I can imagine that would be enough to cause an issue.