What is on my Bangai cardinals lips?

[Areseebee]

I've had this cardinal for probably 3 months. He's been voracious and never seemed to have issues. He shares a 10g with a possum wrasse. Other critters include snails and corals and that's it. I noticed he wasn't hungry a week or so ago which is odd for him, then it happened again yesterday. Today I woke up and he looks like this. At first I thought he ate something but it seems to actually be his mouth. It almost looks like he's eating a hammer (he's not), the bubbles look *****.

 

[Areseebee]

They look almost like eggs.

 

[GlassMunky]

Bengai are mouth brooders and will keep their eggs in their mouths before hatching…
Maybe that’s what’s going on?

 

[GlassMunky]

Breeding the Banggai Cardinalfish in your Home Aquarium

Breeding the Banggai Cardinalfish in your Home Aquarium Introduction The Banggai Cardinalfish or Pterapogon kauderni is a species of cardinalfish endemic to a small area of Central Sulawesi Indonesia around the coasts of 33 islands in the Banggai Archipelago. They are a striking, hardy, disease r...

www.nano-reef.com

 

[Areseebee]

Thanks all it only occured to me as I typed it out... I guess we now know it's a she.

 

[Rjukan]

Yeah.. seems like a good possibility. Check out this picture, it's similar but maybe different color since they aren't fertilized

 

[vetteguy53081]

I've had this cardinal for probably 3 months. He's been voracious and never seemed to have issues. He shares a 10g with a possum wrasse. Other critters include snails and corals and that's it. I noticed he wasn't hungry a week or so ago which is odd for him, then it happened again yesterday. Today I woke up and he looks like this. At first I thought he ate something but it seems to actually be his mouth. It almost looks like he's eating a hammer (he's not), the bubbles look *****.

These are eggs for which the male holds them and will occasionally lose some and in some cases all

 

[Areseebee]

She is the only Cardinal in the tank though so I guess she must be carrying them herself.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

She is the only Cardinal in the tank though so I guess she must be carrying them herself.

I don’t think those are eggs. Can you get a clear video? I think this may be some form of gas bubble disease.

With only one cardinal in the tank, for this to be eggs, they had to come from her. Males are the ones that hold the eggs. Then, they hold them inside, not outside like that. Finally, these are the wrong color. They look silvery to me, thus the idea they may be gas bubbles.

Jay

 

[Areseebee]

This is the best picture I have. I can say they aren't attached to her because she just spat them out a bunch of times and regrabbed them with her mouth and now they seem to be fitting in her mouth better whatever it is. This picture is from before. Could it be a male that grabbed some other species eggs? Though I honestly don't know who would have laid them

 

[Areseebee]

The other reason I think eggs is a decent explanation is that I did check her out pretty thoroughly at midnight the night before and I didn't see any signs of anything. I looked at her because she was in a slightly different part of the tank that she normally doesn't go to.

 

[GlassMunky]

Thanks all it only occured to me as I typed it out... I guess we now know it's a she.

No it’s a He. It’s the males who carry the eggs in their mouths after the females lay them.

 

[GlassMunky]

But I’d listen to Jay over me, he’s the fish expert.
Also it doesn’t make sense if it’s the only cardinal in the tank.


Also, on an aside, a 10gallon tank is too small for both those fish together. Personally I’d find a 10g way too small for even a single bengai they get kind of big

 

[DaJMasta]

Definitely eggs, and if it's a she, there are documented cases where a female with eggs will release them and then stuff them in her mouth to try and protect them - but since they're not fertilized, she will eventually spit them out.

Actually could explain why they won't fully fit in her mouth - since males usually have bigger mouths for this exact reason. If those are her eggs (and yeah, they look like banggai eggs and are the right size for it), her rear, lower quarter should be noticeably thinner (looking slightly concave) now whereas before releasing them it would have looked slightly swollen.

 

[Areseebee]

No it’s a He. It’s the males who carry the eggs in their mouths after the females lay them.

This begs the question where did the eggs come from though. I suspect it's just a female doing something weird with no male around to do his job.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

There is an older thread on this.

Banggai cardinalfish With eggs??? No mate.. so confused

So I have another thread about internal parasites and discussing my clownfish with string poop and my cardinal fish that hasn’t eaten for two days. This morning I woke up to check on the cardinal and it has eggs covering it’s underside. He/she has been alone in the tank for probably a year. Do...

www.reef2reef.com

I apparently did hear of a case where a female held unfertilized eggs for a bit - I'd forgotten that.

Jay

 

[Areseebee]

Also, on an aside, a 10gallon tank is too small for both those fish together. Personally I’d find a 10g way too small for even a single bengai they get kind of big

Yeah I think this is right in the end. She's getting a little big although I think she's still doing well. The plan is to move them to a 280 gallon in the summer or shortly after. Just waiting on a basement remodel.