Help diagnosing problem with clownfish gill

[billygalaxy]

Hello, and thank you in advance for any diagnosis or advice.

My female clown appears to have one gill protruding a bit. Definitely not normal and does appear to cause her occasional discomfort.

Sorry for the poor quality photo, having a hard time getting any as she almost always has the opposite side facing the glass.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello, and thank you in advance for any diagnosis or advice.

My female clown appears to have one gill protruding a bit. Definitely not normal and does appear to cause her occasional discomfort.

Sorry for the poor quality photo, having a hard time getting any as she almost always has the opposite side facing the glass.

As you noticed, the pic is very dark and hard to work with and can be a few things such as injury, infection, heavy mucus as examples.
Need clear pic under white light intensity

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hello, and thank you in advance for any diagnosis or advice.

My female clown appears to have one gill protruding a bit. Definitely not normal and does appear to cause her occasional discomfort.

Sorry for the poor quality photo, having a hard time getting any as she almost always has the opposite side facing the glass.

How recent of a development was this? Did it show up suddenly (implying injury) or has it had it for some time (possibly a developmental problem, very common in captive raised clownfish).

Only one gill being affected tends to rule out an external disease issue, that would more likely affect both gills equally.

Jay

 

[billygalaxy]

Here are a couple of hopefully more useful photos:

 

[billygalaxy]

It is hard to say when it first showed up or if it is an injury. She is usually turned the opposite direction and don't really engage in any behavior that would lead to injury. It does seem to be bother her a bit (occasional head shaking).

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

It is hard to say when it first showed up or if it is an injury. She is usually turned the opposite direction and don't really engage in any behavior that would lead to injury. It does seem to be bother her a bit (occasional head shaking).

Well, sorry, there is no way to say then if this is an injury or a developmental issue. There isn't anything that can be done for developmental issues. For an injury, that would be caused by another fish (usually the other clownfish) so separating them would prevent further injury.

Jay