Bicolor blenny with white "worm" in one gill?

KonradTO · Apr 14, 2022

Hi all,
I just found out my bicolor blenny has a white "string" in the gill area. I am not sure if this is just skin peeled after a scratch or a parasite..does anyone know what this is?
I recently lost 2 clowns because of bacterial infection so I am a bit worried

vetteguy53081 · Apr 14, 2022

It’s either a parasitic copepod or more likely Piscicolidae Worm. At times a 5 minute freshwater dip will dislodge it otherwise non- force able pull with tweezers

Jay Hemdal · Apr 14, 2022

KonradTO said:
Hi all,
I just found out my bicolor blenny has a white "string" in the gill area. I am not sure if this is just skin peeled after a scratch or a parasite..does anyone know what this is?
I recently lost 2 clowns because of bacterial infection so I am a bit worried

I don’t see any definition to it that would indicate a parasite, it looks more like mucus to me. What produced the mucus is the concern - an injury, a bacterial infection? Can’t really say. How recently did you lose the clowns and what were their symptoms?
Jay

KonradTO · Apr 14, 2022

Jay Hemdal said:
I don’t see any definition to it that would indicate a parasite, it looks more like mucus to me. What produced the mucus is the concern - an injury, a bacterial infection? Can’t really say. How recently did you lose the clowns and what were their symptoms?
Jay

The clowns died one month ago. I posted some pictures here with them having initially white "bumps" around their mouth, with one of them having its mouth full of it so he couldn't eat. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/what-is-happening-to-my-fish.893767/
At some point the white "bumps" spread across the frontal part of the body and had kind of reddish margins, as if they had some bleeding going on. One died after few days, the other one died one week later.
I treated them with Esha Trimarin as I did not make it in time to order proper antibiotics (here in Germany it is hard to find them without prescription), but it did not help.
I also had a YWG with a similar white bump but much bigger. Now the bump is gone and the YWG only has still left some white "scars" where the bump was. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ywg-with-white-lumps-near-eye.883469/#post-9758969

KonradTO · Apr 14, 2022

vetteguy53081 said:
It’s either a parasitic copepod or more likely Piscicolidae Worm. At times a 5 minute freshwater dip will dislodge it otherwise non- force able pull with tweezers

So overall there are 2 suggestions: parasite or mucus. I can try to remove carefully the white "string" and look at it with a macro lens so we can rule out what is going on. Any suggestion on how to do it? I guess I need to use medical gloves and catch the blenny with the net before pulling this thing off?

vetteguy53081 · Apr 14, 2022

KonradTO said:
So overall there are 2 suggestions: parasite or mucus. I can try to remove carefully the white "string" and look at it with a macro lens so we can rule out what is going on. Any suggestion on how to do it? I guess I need to use medical gloves and catch the blenny with the net before pulling this thing off?

Utilize a small container with tank water and fish will flip. Once settled, quickly but carefully take tweezers and pull it outwards
You can try the easier of the two first with freshwater dip using tap water, same temperature as display tank

KonradTO · Apr 14, 2022

Lol it is much harder than I thought. There is no way to catch him without destroying the rockscape. Should I trap him or just wait and see how it goes?

Jay Hemdal · Apr 14, 2022

KonradTO said:
Lol it is much harder than I thought. There is no way to catch him without destroying the rockscape. Should I trap him or just wait and see how it goes?

Personally, I would normally just wait, EXCEPT that you have that history of a similar issue in this tank. I think it may be a bacterial issue after all, and that would best be treated in an isolation tank with a broad spectrum, gram negative antibiotic.

Jay

EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal · Apr 14, 2022

KonradTO said:
Lol it is much harder than I thought. There is no way to catch him without destroying the rockscape. Should I trap him or just wait and see how it goes?

Can you "corral" him into a smaller section of your tank (preferably one with no rocks)? I've used pieces of plastic egg crate (lighting diffuser here in the US) to block off part of my tank when I needed to net a particularly fast fish...

Good luck and I hope he's ok!

EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal · Apr 14, 2022

*if you use a freshwater dip, be sure any chlorine has been removed first.

KonradTO · Apr 15, 2022

Erin1971Texas said:
Can you "corral" him into a smaller section of your tank (preferably one with no rocks)? I've used pieces of plastic egg crate (lighting diffuser here in the US) to block off part of my tank when I needed to net a particularly fast fish...

Good luck and I hope he's ok!

He's super tiny, he would go through the threads of the eggcrate. Maybe I could try with some baiting with food in the opposite side of the rockwork. Today I will go fishing

Reefer825 · Apr 15, 2022

Go over everything you've done from the beginning and try to narrow it down as to what caused this.

KonradTO · Apr 15, 2022

Reefer825 said:
Go over everything you've done from the beginning and try to narrow it down as to what caused this.

Few days ago I purchased some slugs and some live rock, hopefully is not something coming out of those..

KonradTO · Apr 15, 2022

Jay Hemdal said:
Personally, I would normally just wait, EXCEPT that you have that history of a similar issue in this tank. I think it may be a bacterial issue after all, and that would best be treated in an isolation tank with a broad spectrum, gram negative antibiotic.

Jay

Ok I need to find a way to catch the little b****rd. He's squishy xD.
By the way. Today the "string" is gone but both gills area are pale/whitish. Sometimes my blenny gets weird white patterns all over the body when is tick*d, so I cannot tell if this is normal or not. I guess they do like reptiles that change skin color depending on stress..

Jay Hemdal · Apr 15, 2022

KonradTO said:
Ok I need to find a way to catch the little b****rd. He's squishy xD.
By the way. Today the "string" is gone but both gills area are pale/whitish. Sometimes my blenny gets weird white patterns all over the body when is tick*d, so I cannot tell if this is normal or not. I guess they do like reptiles that change skin color depending on stress..

That does point more towards mucus or bacteria then, but it may still need antibiotics. Catching fish is tough - and you don't want to damage it further while trying to catch it. I will sometimes use two nets - one standing up on its frame, and then I use the other one to try and chase the fish into it. Other people have had good success with fish traps.

Jay

EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal · Apr 15, 2022

KonradTO said:
He's super tiny, he would go through the threads of the eggcrate. Maybe I could try with some baiting with food in the opposite side of the rockwork. Today I will go fishing

Maybe something more solid then? Point being, if you can reduce the size of the area he is in, it might be easier to net him.

Fishfreak2009 · Apr 15, 2022

I always remove as much rock as possible, then when the blenny inevitably goes into a whole in the rock, I can take the rock out and hang it over a bucket of tank water with a net, so the hole with the fish is facing towards the net. Or use an old barnacle skeleton. Blennies can't seem to resist them, and when they bolt into the empty barnacle shell you can scoop them out with it by putting your hand over the top to prevent escape and just pour them into a net.