Male clownfish died suddenly

[RavenSF]

I had a bonded True Perc pair of clownfish for about 10 years and the male suddenly died. They routinely laid eggs and had just laid eggs the day before. Both fish acted normally and I saw no signs of anything unusual in their appearance.

I've only seen aggression between them once before and that was years ago. I saw no signs of trauma or disease on the the dead male and just found him dead in the afternoon. Is it possible he died from internal parasites yet showed no signs of being infected? Any likely scenarios for what caused his death?

My tank is a Red Sea 170 and I had the pair of clownfish and Halichoeres wrasse. The female clown and the wrasse still seem fine. Inverts in the tank are cleaner shrimp, hermits and urchins. Nothing was added or changed recently.

 

[RobB'z Reef]

Classic Type A male syndrome, the female just wore him out

 

[Zionas]

Oh really? Fish lifespans are shortened by constant breeding?

 

[RavenSF]

Classic Type A male syndrome, the female just wore him out

Seriously? Please tell me that's not really a thing.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

If you have haven’t added anything new to the tank in the past 3 months, I can’t see how it could be an infectious disease.
Ten years is middle to old age for a perc. Some can live 15+ years, but most don’t. Given that all the other animals look good, I’d say it was age related....
Jay

 

[Zionas]

We’re your fish captive bred or wild caught? If wild caught? Most likely age. If Captive Bred, any previous owners? If so, how many years did they have the fish?

 

[zalick]

Sorry for your loss. I had basically the same thing happened with my bonded pair. The female suddenly died in the afternoon one day after ~8 years. My male (now female) is still alive at 12 years.

She was fine in the morning and ate like normal and then when I got home late afternoon she was dead.

My wife is a veterinarian and guessed stroke or heart attack for a sudden death. But she has zero experience with fish.

 

[RavenSF]

We’re your fish captive bred or wild caught? If wild caught? Most likely age. If Captive Bred, any previous owners? If so, how many years did they have the fish?

Captive bred and I’ve been the only owner. They were pretty small when I got them bout an inch or so.

 

[Zionas]

Yeah I’d also guess a stroke or heart attack.