Purple Firefish parasite?

[TyZac]

Hi today I noticed my Purple Firefish seems to have two strange curly worm things coming out of its right side? Could not find anything like it online what should I do? It’s behaving normally and I’ve had it for about three weeks now.

 

[Brew12]

Hi today I noticed my Purple Firefish seems to have two strange curly worm things coming out of its right side? Could not find anything like it online what should I do? It’s behaving normally and I’ve had it for about three weeks now.

Unfortunately, this looks like a parasitic worm.

I recommend giving this a read.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/id-please.314152/

Oh, and Welcome to Reef2Reef!

 

[reef lover]

Bummer...link above should help. Welcome to r2r!!

 

[allisabol]

i just got my purple fire fish today and I put him in the tank then noticed he had these?! What do I do?? What kind of worm is this?

 

[Sharkbait19]

Welcome to the forum!
#fishmedic
I’m not sure what the specific treatment would be, but the go to would be something that targets worms. Prazipro may work.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

i just got my purple fire fish today and I put him in the tank then noticed he had these?! What do I do?? What kind of worm is this?

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Those are parasitic copepod egg strands. Here is an excerpt from my fish disease book about them:

The purple firefish, Nemateleotris magnifica has a copepod parasite specific to that species – Serpentisaccus magnificae. Described by George Blasiola in 1979, this parasite is seen on newly imported firefish. The body of the parasite is buried in the flank of the fish, behind the gills, either on one or both sides. When the female copepod develops its egg sacs, these emerge from the fish’s skin as tiny coiled strands. Treatment should not be attempted for this parasite, as the adults are buried too deeply into the body of the fish for physical removal to be done safely, and no known chemotherapeutic will eliminate internal crustacean parasites without also harming the host fish. This copepod is thought to have indirect development with a series of planktonic larval stages, so there is no real concern of the eggs hatching and then fully developing and causing reinfection of the host.

Jay

 

[Methodzx860]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Those are parasitic copepod egg strands. Here is an excerpt from my fish disease book about them:

The purple firefish, Nemateleotris magnifica has a copepod parasite specific to that species – Serpentisaccus magnificae. Described by George Blasiola in 1979, this parasite is seen on newly imported firefish. The body of the parasite is buried in the flank of the fish, behind the gills, either on one or both sides. When the female copepod develops its egg sacs, these emerge from the fish’s skin as tiny coiled strands. Treatment should not be attempted for this parasite, as the adults are buried too deeply into the body of the fish for physical removal to be done safely, and no known chemotherapeutic will eliminate internal crustacean parasites without also harming the host fish. This copepod is thought to have indirect development with a series of planktonic larval stages, so there is no real concern of the eggs hatching and then fully developing and causing reinfection of the host.

Jay

So will it eventually go away? Have one with the same issue and it bugs me

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

So will it eventually go away? Have one with the same issue and it bugs me

No it sometimes goes away, but in other cases, people have reported that their fish died. What it won't do is spread to other fish in the same tank.