Clownfish gill damage or deformity?

vreef · Aug 4, 2018

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to see if I could consult with you all about a clownfish purchase I made recently (last Tuesday) at my local LFS.

Unfortunately, I didn't realize this until I got home and started the acclimation process, but it seems that one of the two little (about an inch) clownfishes I purchased had some gill damage or some sort of gill deformity (incomplete gill plate) where part of the red gill is exposed.

I've attached a couple of pictures (one in the tank, and one in the specimen container I used to drip acclimate). It is the orange/larger one.

The clownfish is eating normally and is active though sometimes aggressive to the smaller one (to probably establishing dominance - not sure how long that is supposed to last).

Does anyone know what exactly is going on with the clownfish? If it is gill damage, do you think it will heal? And if it is more of a deformity, do you think it will cause complications in the future?

I am fairly new to the hobby, so any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

Amoo · Aug 4, 2018

gill issue sounds more parasitic #Reefsquad need some help from folks in the Disease and treatment forum here. New to the hobby reefer.

dbl · Aug 4, 2018

I went ahead and moved this over to the disease forum for a better look.

KJ · Aug 4, 2018

@Brew12 @4FordFamily @HotRocks

Crabs McJones · Aug 4, 2018

Welcome to R2R! Could be parasitic or could be bullying from other fish at the store. If a fish got a good bite on him could account for the lack of gill covering.

Reeferdood · Aug 4, 2018

First of all.......

I am no fish expert so I would call on the Squad to help you out. It looks like it is a typical clown, mean and feisty so I am not sure if there really is an issue.
Like I said, hopefully the fish gurus will chime in....

KJ · Aug 4, 2018

Welcome to R2R!!!

4FordFamily · Aug 4, 2018

It looks like an injury —- perhaps it is infected, if red it may be infected you should have kanaplex, metroplex, and furan 2 on hand to treat. It looks like a bad injury. It could heal on its own but if it becomes more infected it could be fatal very quickly.

Welcome to R2R by the way!

Katrina71 · Aug 4, 2018

I have a little inbred clownfish. His gill cover doesn't close and he has a little tiny fin on one side. If you discover this isn't an injury, don't give up. Ours is almost 2 years old. My son actually picked him because nobody else would want him.

HotRocks · Aug 4, 2018

Agree with injury or deformity.

Redness of the Gill covers can be from ammonia exposure.

I would recommend a 90 minute bath in acriflavine (Ruby Reef Rally) or a 30 minute bath in methalyne blue ASAP.

Followed by Antibiotics if you don't see improvement on it's own as @4FordFamily mentioned.

vreef · Aug 5, 2018

Thank you everyone for your feedback! Hoping for the best for the little one.

And thanks for the warm welcome.

FD_Marine · Dec 11, 2018

What did you do?

vreef · Dec 11, 2018

FD_Marine said:
What did you do?

So, my LFS where I bought it wanted me to bring it into the store for them to examine more closely (they were having a hard time opening up my pics for some reason). The clownfish was so hard to catch (haha), but I finally did and brought it in. They said it was a gill deformity common in aquacultured clowns. They suggested I swap it out just in case it caused complications in the future (they said it usually doesn't). So, I did and came home with another ocellaris orange (this time a misbar). I'm glad I did in a way because the first one (with the gill deformity) was definitely way more aggressive to my mocha than my current one. Both are going half a year strong with me (my profile pic).

melbournedan · Aug 29, 2022

So, my LFS where I bought it wanted me to bring it into the store for them to examine more closely (they were having a hard time opening up my pics for some reason). The clownfish was so hard to catch (haha), but I finally did and brought it in. They said it was a gill deformity common in aquacultured clowns. They suggested I swap it out just in case it caused complications in the future (they said it usually doesn't). So, I did and came home with another ocellaris orange (this time a misbar). I'm glad I did in a way because the first one (with the gill deformity) was definitely way more aggressive to my mocha than my current one. Both are going half a year strong with me (my profile pic).

did the gill plate repair ?