Hole near fin, with worms?

[Cheeze]

Added a Purple Firefish to my tank 2 days ago, after acclimation. The fish is very timid and has been hiding in a small cave since, but has been coming out when I feed and I haven't seen any unusual breathing or swimming patterns on the rare occasion it pokes out for a bit to venture.

Today when feeding, I noticed on one side by his fin, there is a small black hole or mark, and what appears to be white curly strings protruding from it (but not loose, not waving around with the current or anything). This is only on 1 side, and I am certain it was not there when I added him to the tank as I visually inspected him thoroughly before adding. Anyone seen anything like this, or know what this is and if I should be concerned? (Pics are below)

Tank has been cycled for just over a month now with dry sand and dry rock, and I do weekly water changes with RODI.
Only other inhabitants are a PJ Cardinal who looks healthier than ever, and 3 Trochus snails.
Parameters are all normal (pH 8.2 / Nitrate 2 / Salinity 1.025 / Temp 77F / Phosphate .01)

 

[Cheeze]

 

[Reefing_addiction]

Bump

@Jay Hemdal

 

[Cheeze]

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Those are copepod eggs cases of Serpentisaccus magnificae. The actual parasite is buried deep in the fish. There is no treatment. The eggs won’t survive, they need an intermediary host and probably have a planktonic phase. I’ve seen fire fish survive this, especially if they don’t have parasites on both sides at once.
Jay

 

[Cheeze]

Those are copepod eggs cases of Serpentisaccus magnificae. The actual parasite is buried deep in the fish. There is no treatment. The eggs won’t survive, they need an intermediary host and probably have a planktonic phase. I’ve seen fire fish survive this, especially if they don’t have parasites on both sides at once.
Jay

Thank you Jay for the reply! This helps settle my nerves some, and I'll be keeping a closer eye on the guy...hopefully he can survive it too.

 

[gobble]

How is your fish doing? I have a purple firefish with the exact same thing on the right side. I've never seen anything so strange.

 

[Cheeze]

Unfortunately, it died about a week after my post. Didn't exhibit any strange "sick" behavior other than being a bit shy. But one morning I found it struggling to breath and swim, and it was gone by the afternoon.

Hope yours is stronger and can survive it!

 

[gobble]

Sorry to hear that

 

[M Stein]

I had a regular firefish with it. It lasted a while and then the fish just disappeared.

 

[SuzanneH]

I had a Purple Firefish with what appears to be the same issue. Sadly, he died today after I noticed this near his right pectoral fin about a week ago. Do these copepod parasites normally kill their hosts? What I have read about them so far doesn't really mention that. TIA

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I had a Purple Firefish with what appears to be the same issue. Sadly, he died today after I noticed this near his right pectoral fin about a week ago. Do these copepod parasites normally kill their hosts? What I have read about them so far doesn't really mention that. TIA

Sorry, I don’t have a good handle on the mortality rate from this issue. Some fish can survive, but I don’t know the percentage that die. One issue is that it is only the egg mass that you see, so the fish may have more parasites that you can’t see.
Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

susceptible to worms, this fish has roundworms in its belly, likely Piscicolidae Worm and will need to be quarantined and treated with formalin based medication such as Quick cure or ruby rally pro. With ruby, give it a 60-90 minute bath then treat
Edit - I see Jay also responded