Caught the isopod that killed my fish

[JosephM]

Well today my first and only fish was killed by a isopod and right after it died I set up a trap and I’ve caught 2 so far. One with a massive belly full of blood... he’s the killer! Now I must decide it’s fate

 

[sunken3]

looks like a pill bug.. weird.

 

[JosephM]

looks like a pill bug.. weird.

I think one of their nicknames is marine pill bug lol

 

[Specific Ocean]

 

[Crustaceon]

Well today my first and only fish was killed by a isopod and right after it died I set up a trap and I’ve caught 2 so far. One with a massive belly full of blood... he’s the killer! Now I must decide it’s fate

I think you need to set up a dedicated tank for it. A 180-240 will do. Even larger is better. They get aggressive in tanks less than 8 feet long.

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Wow,

Sorry to hear.

 

[ReefSapper]

I think you need to set up a dedicated tank for it. A 180-240 will do. They get have aggression issues in tanks less than 8 feet long.

LOL So good!

 

[rwreef]

Crush , kill, destroy imo

 

[JosephM]

Wow,

Sorry to hear.

Yeah. Sucked a lot. Beautiful exquisite fire fish. Only had him for 4 days and was very healthy, swimming and eating like a pig... until this thing latched on overnight and he didn’t recover.

 

[TankCandy]

Hmm what you caught almost looks like a chiton not a Tongue-eating louse.

When in doubt throw it out!!

 

[Rip2131]

I recently purchased a few frags, and saw one of these mugs when I dipped it. Glad I opted for it to not go in my tank!

 

[JosephM]

Hmm what you caught almost looks like a chiton not a Tongue-eating louse.

When in doubt throw it out!!

I believe it was a cirolanid isopod

 

[JosephM]

I recently purchased a few frags, and saw one of these mugs when I dipped it. Glad I opted for it to not go in my tank!

Heck yeah. They suck! Learned that first hand

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Heck yeah. They suck! Learned that first hand

Did you see the isopod attached to the fish while it was still healthy and swimming around?

 

[TankCandy]

I believe it was a cirolanid isopod

+1 on cirolanid... Never knew about them until now. Sorry to hear that.

"Cirolanid species are obligate parasites, other species are strictly scavengers, and some are a combination of both. The vast majority of Cirolanids seen in the aquarium hobby seem to be obligate parasites of fish and will starve to death in your tank in two to six months if no fish are present"

 

[JosephM]

Did you see the isopod attached to the fish while it was still healthy and swimming around?

Perfectly fine last night, woke up while tank was still dark and saw black spot on him and thought maybe a bruise because he lived in a tight spot, came home after a couple hrs and he was bottom up in the middle of the tank and I lifted him with a net and it was attached right behind his fin.

 

[LRT]

Nasty sorry to hear.

 

[RedReefer]

Dang! That's crazy!

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Perfectly fine last night, woke up while tank was still dark and saw black spot on him and thought maybe a bruise because he lived in a tight spot, came home after a couple hrs and he was bottom up in the middle of the tank and I lifted him with a net and it was attached right behind his fin.

Gotcha. It does look kind of like a cirolanid isopod but I'd need a closer picture to say for sure. I was just asking in case the brand new fish died from other causes and then the (possibly Innocent) isopods moved in to clean up the mess.

 

[lagatbezan]