Possible Parasite ID?

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks for the reply, but it looks more like a growth, with something stringy coming out of it. Would a sting cause this? I took some additional pictures, hope they help.

The circled area looks like the egg case of the copepod Serpentisaccus magnificae that infects fire fish. Prazipro won’t cure it. Freshwater dips can kill it, but the trouble is that the head of the parasite is buried deep in the fish’s belly. The outcome is usually not good.
Jay

Edit - just saw your post, sorry.

 

[diaz3963]

Pulled the fish to take photos to request a refund.

However incase its helpful, I pulled the parasite from the corpse. Quite a large hole it made. Very sad. Thank you to all who helped.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Fish did not survive the bath, removed the fish after 70min. Copepod did not dislodge from the fish.

Did you aerate the water? mentioned was heavy aeration during bath and was the bath with freshwater or tank water?

 

[jabberwock]

Nice effort to save the fish. I hope you get the refund.

 

[diaz3963]

For the FW dip I used freshwater and submersed in the tank to equalize the temperature, then dipped for about 5min.

I have a spare 1gal Betta tank that I used for the Prazipro bath. I added SW from the DT and Prazipro accordingly, no filters. I have a back up aerator with stone rated for a 50gal tank and spare 5gal heater that was used.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Pulled the fish to take photos to request a refund.

However incase its helpful, I pulled the parasite from the corpse. Quite a large hole it made. Very sad. Thank you to all who helped.

I was out of the office yesterday and couldn't access my files. I know it isn't any help, but by way of further information, here is a section in my disease book where I discuss this parasite:

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. In some cases, the fish recovers, but it is fatal in other instances, It may be dependent on how deep the female copepod attaches, and if the fish’s vital organs are involved.

Jay

 

[diaz3963]

I was out of the office yesterday and couldn't access my files. I know it isn't any help, but by way of further information, here is a section in my disease book where I discuss this parasite:

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. In some cases, the fish recovers, but it is fatal in other instances, It may be dependent on how deep the female copepod attaches, and if the fish’s vital organs are involved.

Jay

Thank you for the educational information Jay