White worms under my Morays skin?

[trvrstnk4837]

Just noticed what appears to be worms under my morays skin, anyone know what they are and what I can do to help him?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Just noticed what appears to be worms under my morays skin, anyone know what they are and what I can do to help him?

May be nematodes but never seen them under skin
@Jay Hemdal

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Just noticed what appears to be worms under my morays skin, anyone know what they are and what I can do to help him?

Those are nematodes. I call it filigree disease. Tough to treat since praziquantel doesn’t work on them. I’m on my phone, but try looking at this article and see if you can find a medication to treat it:

Cir 91/FA091: Nematode (Roundworm) Infections in Fish

University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension outreach is a partnership between state, federal, and county governments to provide scientific knowledge and expertise to the public. The University of Florida (UF), together with Florida A&M University (FAMU)...

edis.ifas.ufl.edu

Jay

 

[trvrstnk4837]

Those are nematodes. I call it filigree disease. Tough to treat since praziquantel doesn’t work on them. I’m on my phone, but try looking at this article and see if you can find a medication to treat it:

Cir 91/FA091: Nematode (Roundworm) Infections in Fish

University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension outreach is a partnership between state, federal, and county governments to provide scientific knowledge and expertise to the public. The University of Florida (UF), together with Florida A&M University (FAMU)...

edis.ifas.ufl.edu

Jay

thank you so much

the article mentions fenbendazole and other thing I’ve been able to find suggests this is very effective

its sold as a dog dewormer in powder form so maybe I should give him some directly in his food and then maybe even dose the tank

would still love to hear any suggestions I’d hate to lose my buddy to these worms

 

[Jay Hemdal]

thank you so much

the article mentions fenbendazole and other thing I’ve been able to find suggests this is very effective

its sold as a dog dewormer in powder form so maybe I should give him some directly in his food and then maybe even dose the tank

would still love to hear any suggestions I’d hate to lose my buddy to these worms

My home Internet is back online, and I could look this up for you. Here is what I wrote about this problem in my fish disease book:

Filigree disease – Huffmanela sp. and related nematodes
Occasionally, marine fish will be seen with a highly distinctive skin lesion that looks a bit like a filigree tattoo, or sometimes, a single meandering line. Moray eels, freshly caught, will sometimes show these symptoms, as will certain sharks. Apparently, the meandering lines are formed as the nematode burrows under the fish’s skin, close to the surface, laying dark eggs that then create the line. Levamisole administered orally at 10 mg / kg may work to reduce the parasite numbers. However, fish showing these lesions are otherwise asymptomatic, and the lesions typically heal within a month or two. This may mean that these nematodes have a secondary host in their life cycle, and so are self-limiting in aquariums.

You could try fenbendazole in the water, but I worry about two issues: that it won't get deep into the tissue very well when used as a bath, and I've seen serious adverse reactions in some fish. The common dose for that is 2 ppm in the water, once a week for three weeks.

Jay

 

[trvrstnk4837]

My home Internet is back online, and I could look this up for you. Here is what I wrote about this problem in my fish disease book:

Filigree disease – Huffmanela sp. and related nematodes
Occasionally, marine fish will be seen with a highly distinctive skin lesion that looks a bit like a filigree tattoo, or sometimes, a single meandering line. Moray eels, freshly caught, will sometimes show these symptoms, as will certain sharks. Apparently, the meandering lines are formed as the nematode burrows under the fish’s skin, close to the surface, laying dark eggs that then create the line. Levamisole administered orally at 10 mg / kg may work to reduce the parasite numbers. However, fish showing these lesions are otherwise asymptomatic, and the lesions typically heal within a month or two. This may mean that these nematodes have a secondary host in their life cycle, and so are self-limiting in aquariums.

You could try fenbendazole in the water, but I worry about two issues: that it won't get deep into the tissue very well when used as a bath, and I've seen serious adverse reactions in some fish. The common dose for that is 2 ppm in the water, once a week for three weeks.

Jay

Thank you, what’s the title of your book?

That’s interesting, not sure how long his journey to the fish store was but I bought my Moray 10 days ago so maybe this process started in the ocean….. I hope that’s the case and I’m just seeing the scars

I stopped at my LFS on the way home and bought this

It’s active ingredient is levamisole hydrochloride I am gunna dose the water per the instructions and try to feed a bit to my eel…. I may soak some pellets and then put them in his food

 

[trvrstnk4837]

I’ll also try and retake clear pictures over time to see if I can track the lines to see if they’re progressing

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Actually, my book is going to be offered to R2R partner members this year as part of the "swag"!

Jay

 

[trvrstnk4837]

Okay so I dosed the water

out some powder in a silverside but as I expected he didn’t take it (he ate yesterday) so I should be able to give him some of the medicine tomorrow or the next day

unfortunately there is a new line in his skin since last night

 

[trvrstnk4837]

He ate a silver side with the meds, he’s is acting completely normal otherwise

But my square Anthias had a white stringy poop him and the other fish aren’t eating

next step for the meds as instructed is to redose a week after the first

 

[Jay Hemdal]

He ate a silver side with the meds, he’s is acting completely normal otherwise

But my square Anthias had a white stringy poop him and the other fish aren’t eating

next step for the meds as instructed is to redose a week after the first

Did the other fish stop eating after you dosed with levamisole? That may be a separate issue …… but always very serious.

Jay

 

[trvrstnk4837]

Did the other fish stop eating after you dosed with levamisole? That may be a separate issue …… but always very serious.

Jay

Yeah between adding the meds, removing the carbon and not using any lights ( as per instructions on the box) the water is just a touch more cloudy and with the darkness I first thought that was just throwing them off but now that I saw that from the Anthias I’m concerned the worms went from the eel to everyone

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Yeah between adding the meds, removing the carbon and not using any lights ( as per instructions on the box) the water is just a touch more cloudy and with the darkness I first thought that was just throwing them off but now that I saw that from the Anthias I’m concerned the worms went from the eel to everyone

Unlikely, I’ve only seen these worms in eels or sharks. I’m worried something else is going on. I’ve only used levamisole in food, not in the water….so I can’t tell you if it is toxic like fenbendazole often is, or if it causes changes in water quality.
Jay

 

[trvrstnk4837]

Unlikely, I’ve only seen these worms in eels or sharks. I’m worried something else is going on. I’ve only used levamisole in food, not in the water….so I can’t tell you if it is toxic like fenbendazole often is, or if it causes changes in water quality.
Jay

Oh well that’s good to know, I’ll keep updating I may be overthinking what I saw from the Anthias since I was doing all that googling related to parasites

guna turn the lights on for a bit to see if they will eat some mysis

 

[trvrstnk4837]

Okay just an update, it seems that the lines have stopped on my eel but it is hard to say for sure, I did a second direct medicine feeding to him for good measure

it took acouple days but now everyone is eating not sure exactly what that was about