Lump on YWG

[Calm Blue Ocean]

I noticed this strange lump a day or two ago. I thought maybe a trick of the light but today I noticed that I could see its shape from the other side, too. It looks like a soft swelling. She seems to be behaving and eating normally. Is it possible that her shrimp miscalculated and gave her a snap causing some localized swelling or might this be something more concerning? Figured I'd better ask to be safe. I've had this YWG and shrimp for close to two years.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I noticed this strange lump a day or two ago. I thought maybe a trick of the light but today I noticed that I could see its shape from the other side, too. It looks like a soft swelling. She seems to be behaving and eating normally. Is it possible that her shrimp miscalculated and gave her a snap causing some localized swelling or might this be something more concerning? Figured I'd better ask to be safe. I've had this YWG and shrimp for close to two years.

I see odd bleached areas on people’s gobies pretty often here - trouble is, I don’t know what causes it! Some people have reported theirs just got better.
I hate to guess at treatments, so if it still eating well, I wouldn’t do anything right now.
Jay

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

I see odd bleached areas on people’s gobies pretty often here - trouble is, I don’t know what causes it! Some people have reported theirs just got better.
I hate to guess at treatments, so if it still eating well, I wouldn’t do anything right now.
Jay

Thanks for having a look! This little cave dweller is not easy to photograph but at least I have something to help track any changes.

Got one more picture with a flashlight. Makes it look like it's more discolored than it is but highlights the boundaries of the lump a little better.

I'll keep monitoring and follow up if anything changes.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Caught her hanging out at the side entrance to the cave this morning and got a couple more angles on the mystery bump. Still eating and behaving normally. I'm leaning toward some sort of trauma, either hitting a rock while chasing away an intruder or perhaps a pistol shrimp accident.

 

[ChaosAquaculture]

Definitely an interesting looking bump, Id also guess that she bumped into something on accident. Obviously keep monitoring her, especially if she stops eating. I hope she gets better! - kali

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Thought I should post an update.

Long story short, the fish continues to behave normally, eats normally, and defends her shrimp with gusto!

The lump on her head maxed at about the size in the last picture. Over the following weeks it started to get a bit of a scaly look to it. Gradually it dried up and started to flake away until we were left with this:

The picture actually makes it look more alarming than it is. In person it just looks like scar tissue. She's never seemed bothered by it, never scratching at it or anything. I suspect she's never going to look normal again or if she does it's not going to be for a good long time. But I guess if it doesn't bother her it shouldn't bother me. My final suspicion is that it was an accidental pop from her shrimp. Crazy thing.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thought I should post an update.

Long story short, the fish continues to behave normally, eats normally, and defends her shrimp with gusto!

The lump on her head maxed at about the size in the last picture. Over the following weeks it started to get a bit of a scaly look to it. Gradually it dried up and started to flake away until we were left with this:

The picture actually makes it look more alarming than it is. In person it just looks like scar tissue. She's never seemed bothered by it, never scratching at it or anything. I suspect she's never going to look normal again or if she does it's not going to be for a good long time. But I guess if it doesn't bother her it shouldn't bother me. My final suspicion is that it was an accidental pop from her shrimp. Crazy thing.

That picture does look alarming! It seems to have gotten deeper/larger than the earlier pics. However, it could be granulomatous tissue from the healing process (scars often look worse than the original issue).

Jay

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

That picture does look alarming! It seems to have gotten deeper/larger than the earlier pics. However, it could be granulomatous tissue from the healing process (scars often look worse than the original issue).

Jay

The bottom layer seems pretty much in line with the rest of her body and seems well healed with the lumpy parts all above that. Nothing looks red or irritated and it gives the appearance of being quite solid. It hasn't changed much in at least a few weeks now. The whole process was fairly gradual. It just looks so bizarre I had to share a picture.

Edit: Just to clarify, basically it looked like the lump turned into a scab of sorts and when the scab came off it left these slightly jagged edges behind around smooth healed tissue. Curious enough I just went and had another close look while I was feeding and it looks like parts of it are actually turning yellow again like the rest of her! I'll be sure to post another update in a month or two to document the progress.