Scooter Benny injured

Vyper · Feb 17, 2021

I have a red scooter blenny that is around 8 months old. I keep her in a Nuvo 40 with hang on back fuge. I buy pods monthly from algae barn but she also eats frozen foods. I notIced she wasn’t moving much the other day and didn’t think to much about it but today would just lay around and not eat. I caught her and put her in my acclimation box to get a better look at her. She has bristle worm spines all over her. I can only assume this is why she isn’t movIng much. My wife Is getting her to eat by syringe. Do I try and pluck them off of her or do they fall off after a bit. Also would she need any type of medicine. Any help or advise is greatly appreciated. I currently have a Cade 1800 S2 cycling that I hope to transfer her to as I get the pod population going in it.

Jay Hemdal · Feb 17, 2021

Tough to see under blue light like that, but I’ve never seen that many bristleworm spines in one fish before!
I’ve never tried removing them, as they would just break off at the skin.
Is it feeding by syringe? If so, that’s a good sign.
Jay

Vyper · Feb 18, 2021

Jay Hemdal said:
Tough to see under blue light like that, but I’ve never seen that many bristleworm spines in one fish before!
I’ve never tried removing them, as they would just break off at the skin.
Is it feeding by syringe? If so, that’s a good sign.
Jay

Yes feeding by syringe. Not moving a lot as I am sure it is painful. I was a bit worried about pulling the spines and stressing her to much. Also don’t want her scared of us so we can continue to syringe feed her. i am not sure if they will fall out on their own or what needs to be done. I can’t find much on the web about it. I can only assume she went into somewhere they were. I have always ignored the bristle worms since everyone says good cuc and harmless. obv rethinking those altogether.

Vyper · Mar 1, 2021

Scooter still alive. Looks great but won’t hunt and seems swim in circles. Still syringe feed but mostly eats the juices. Tried numerous foods. At a bit of a loss to understand what is wrong with her. No signs of infection or anything. What could I be missing? I hate to put her down but quality of like will be terrible for her if she has to be syringe fed all the time.

Vyper · Mar 2, 2021

She ended up passing this morning. Upon further examination found she a couple bristle worm spines under the right fin that was evidently in far enough to cause problems. I couldn’t see it without pulling out her fin. Really wish I could have seen it before. Not sure if I could have flipped her over and done that while she was alive. Hope anyone with scooter blennies realize this can happen with bristle worms in tank. My new tank i will do all I can to keep them out.