Is this parasite an isopod? What kind?

[ScubaScott]

I have a 170 FOWLR that I recently set up and started adding fish to in January. One of the first fish I added was an Atlantic Doctorfish. It has thrived and is now up to about 6" long. The last week or so he has taken to hiding a lot, though he comes out for food and eats agressively. Yesterday I noticed he had one of these on him:

When I caught him and removed it, I found another one on the opposite side of him. These things are huge.

From searching the forums here, I gather this is some kind of parasitic isopod? Does anyone know exactly what it is? I have not seen them on any of the other fish, but I will be watching closely now to see if I have an infestation that I need to tackle.

I carefully removed them with tweezers, but those fish hook shaped legs are horrible and I hope I haven't fatally wounded the fish.

Thanks,
Scott

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have a 170 FOWLR that I recently set up and started adding fish to in January. One of the first fish I added was an Atlantic Doctorfish. It has thrived and is now up to about 6" long. The last week or so he has taken to hiding a lot, though he comes out for food and eats agressively. Yesterday I noticed he had one of these on him:

When I caught him and removed it, I found another one on the opposite side of him. These things are huge.

From searching the forums here, I gather this is some kind of parasitic isopod? Does anyone know exactly what it is? I have not seen them on any of the other fish, but I will be watching closely now to see if I have an infestation that I need to tackle.

I carefully removed them with tweezers, but those fish hook shaped legs are horrible and I hope I haven't fatally wounded the fish.

Thanks,
Scott

Yes - isopod
Not the kind that latches on to fish or gets into gills

 

[ScubaScott]

Yes - isopod
Not the kind that latches on to fish or gets into gills

To be clear, these were attached to my fish. Dug into the flesh just above the ventral fin on either side of its body. Their nasty hook-like feet made it hard to remove them.

 

[Reefer Reboot]

Maybe this,

 

[vetteguy53081]

Maybe this,

These pics show body better
They are Cymothoidae and parasitic pods
Anymore in tank?
Freshwater dip has impact on them and i don’t know of any fish that eats them as they can latch onto tongue and change sexes

 

[ScubaScott]

These pics show body better
They are Cymothoidae and parasitic pods
Anymore in tank?
Freshwater dip has impact on them and i don’t know of any fish that eats them as they can latch onto tongue and change sexes

That certainly looks similar. Pretty sure at this point it is a Cymothoidae, genus Anilocra. Having trouble nailing down the species, but it could be that they change color as they grow and these may be juveniles? Possibly males from some of the pictures I have seen of male versus female Cymothoidae.

These two, attached to my doctorfish, are the only ones I have seen in the tank so far. But I will be looking closely now. Wondering if I should try one of the home-brew traps I have seen people posting about.

 

[ScubaScott]

That certainly looks similar. Pretty sure at this point it is a Cymothoidae, genus Anilocra. Having trouble nailing down the species, but it could be that they change color as they grow and these may be juveniles? Possibly males from some of the pictures I have seen of male versus female Cymothoidae.

These two, attached to my doctorfish, are the only ones I have seen in the tank so far. But I will be looking closely now. Wondering if I should try one of the home-brew traps I have seen people posting about.

Also wondering if the species tend to be specific to fish species. I say this because it seems some of the species names include part of the fish name they were shown attached to. For instance: Anilocra isopod on Rock Beauty Angelfish

 

[ScubaScott]

Also wondering if the species tend to be specific to fish species. I say this because it seems some of the species names include part of the fish name they were shown attached to. For instance: Anilocra isopod on Rock Beauty Angelfish

Ack, that link is to a long scientific article. Here is the picture I meant to show:

 

[vetteguy53081]

That certainly looks similar. Pretty sure at this point it is a Cymothoidae, genus Anilocra. Having trouble nailing down the species, but it could be that they change color as they grow and these may be juveniles? Possibly males from some of the pictures I have seen of male versus female Cymothoidae.

These two, attached to my doctorfish, are the only ones I have seen in the tank so far. But I will be looking closely now. Wondering if I should try one of the home-brew traps I have seen people posting about.

Trap would be worth it