Parasite on watchman goby

[skijumpersc]

I noticed my new watchman goby has a small parasite of some sort attached to the base of his tail. I first noticed it a couple days ago and thought it was a scar as he had gotten picked picked on a bit when he was first added, but that has subsided and now that he’s out and about I’ve gotten a better look. It’s a round, flat grayish thing that’s attached at the point to the right of the picture. It usually lays flat, but when he moves sometimes it’ll flap and I can see that it’s only attached at the one spot. It’s hard to say as I didn’t get a great look at it earlier, but I think it has moved closer to his tail. He seems to be acting normal and eating fine so it doesn’t appear to be bugging him much yet, but I’m hoping to get a better id. I haven’t found anything that matches what I’m seeing yet

 

[COreef8]

Is it always in the same spot? It’s hard to tell in the picture but it may be Flukes. You can do Some reading about Flukes to see if the pictures online match what you’re seeing in person.

If it is, and if you can catch him, you could verify by giving him a freshwater dip for 5 minutes. External Flukes will fall off after a few minutes if they’re present. Hopefully it’s not though.

 

[skijumpersc]

Is it always in the same spot? It’s hard to tell in the picture but it may be Flukes. You can do Some reading about Flukes to see if the pictures online match what you’re seeing in person.

If it is, and if you can catch him, you could verify by giving him a freshwater dip for 5 minutes. External Flukes will fall off after a few minutes if they’re present. Hopefully it’s not though.

Hard to say, but it looks like it could be. I think catching him is going to be a real challenge. If that’s not successful I may have to try treating him in the DT. Can general cure be used with focus? If so I can probably spot feed him treated food. Would that be effective for skin flukes?

 

[COreef8]

Hard to say, but it looks like it could be. I think catching him is going to be a real challenge. If that’s not successful I may have to try treating him in the DT. Can general cure be used with focus? If so I can probably spot feed him treated food. Would that be effective for skin flukes?

Yeah I would imagine he'd be tough to catch.

GC can be used in the DT when bound with focus but that will treat internal parasites, not the external ones. Praziquantel (either general cure or prazipro) free in the water column would be the best way to treat skin flukes if that is the diagnosis. General Cure is not reef safe since it contains metronidazole, which is why quarantine would be the best option.

If you cannot catch him, you could treat the whole tank with Prazipro since it only contains Praziquantel which is reef safe (it does affect worms though).

 

[skijumpersc]

Yeah I would imagine he'd be tough to catch.

GC can be used in the DT when bound with focus but that will treat internal parasites, not the external ones. Praziquantel (either general cure or prazipro) free in the water column would be the best way to treat skin flukes if that is the diagnosis. General Cure is not reef safe since it contains metronidazole, which is why quarantine would be the best option.

If you cannot catch him, you could treat the whole tank with Prazipro since it only contains Praziquantel which is reef safe (it does affect worms though).

Treating the display may be my best option as even if I can capture that little guy the rest of the tank may have already been contaminated.

 

[reefrange]

I noticed my new watchman goby has a small parasite of some sort attached to the base of his tail. I first noticed it a couple days ago and thought it was a scar as he had gotten picked picked on a bit when he was first added, but that has subsided and now that he’s out and about I’ve gotten a better look. It’s a round, flat grayish thing that’s attached at the point to the right of the picture. It usually lays flat, but when he moves sometimes it’ll flap and I can see that it’s only attached at the one spot. It’s hard to say as I didn’t get a great look at it earlier, but I think it has moved closer to his tail. He seems to be acting normal and eating fine so it doesn’t appear to be bugging him much yet, but I’m hoping to get a better id. I haven’t found anything that matches what I’m seeing yet

Hi mate, I noticed exact same thing in my wheeler goby last night. There were many in his fin and body. Did you fix the issue? Did you find out what it actually it? I managed to catch him and now he is in qt.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hard to say, but it looks like it could be. I think catching him is going to be a real challenge. If that’s not successful I may have to try treating him in the DT. Can general cure be used with focus? If so I can probably spot feed him treated food. Would that be effective for skin flukes?

GC and Focus should be avoided - the dose isn’t correct. Additionally, oral meds don’t work well for external metazoan infections.
This could be a fluke, but it is rather large. It might also be a parasitic copepod.
As mentioned, a 5 minute FW dip will likely knock this off. If it is a fluke, then Prazipro would be a safe in-tank treatment. If it is a copepod, and the FW dip doesn’t dislodge it, you may have to leave it be. Copepods are so tough that the medication needed to kill them often kills the fish first.
Jay