Weird growth on clownfish gill plate

[Huskymaniac]

@Jay Hemdal any idea what this is? Could it be Lympho? Clownfish is a 6 year old female and laying eggs on a consistent basis. You can see the protrusion on the gill plate on the lower left side. I attached a video and a picture. It's been like this for 2 to 3 weeks now. Sometimes looks better and sometimes worse.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Well, that's not Lymphocustis - you won't see that on long term captive fish, and also clownfish are resistant to it (I don't recall ever seeing one with it). Lymphocystis is seen on the trailing edges of the fins of newly acquired fish.

So what is it? Tough to say. It looks like it is a minor blemish to me (but if it spreads, or grows larger, that's a problem!). Long term cpative clownfish are prone to developing Mycobacterium - fish tuberculosis. That isn't treatable, and is probably the number one cause of death for "old fish".

Skunk clowns are pretty mellow, but could it have had a tussle with the male during spawning?

Jay

 

[Huskymaniac]

Well, that's not Lymphocustis - you won't see that on long term captive fish, and also clownfish are resistant to it (I don't recall ever seeing one with it). Lymphocystis is seen on the trailing edges of the fins of newly acquired fish.

So what is it? Tough to say. It looks like it is a minor blemish to me (but if it spreads, or grows larger, that's a problem!). Long term cpative clownfish are prone to developing Mycobacterium - fish tuberculosis. That isn't treatable, and is probably the number one cause of death for "old fish".

Skunk clowns are pretty mellow, but could it have had a tussle with the male during spawning?

Jay

Hoping its not fish tb. I actually caught it after cutting my hand in a different aquarium a few years ago. Had to be on antibiotics for 6 months. Was the worst.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hoping its not fish tb. I actually caught it after cutting my hand in a different aquarium a few years ago. Had to be on antibiotics for 6 months. Was the worst.

Yikes! I've gotten a few small Myco lesions on my hands over the years, but they went away on their own. One year, I had to take a TB tine test for work and it came back "possibly positive", but they then gave me a different test and it said it wasn't human TB, and again, it went away on its own. One of my staff got a TB lesion smaller than yours, but had to do the full treatment - that sucks!

Jay

 

[Huskymaniac]

Yikes! I've gotten a few small Myco lesions on my hands over the years, but they went away on their own. One year, I had to take a TB tine test for work and it came back "possibly positive", but they then gave me a different test and it said it wasn't human TB, and again, it went away on its own. One of my staff got a TB lesion smaller than yours, but had to do the full treatment - that sucks!

Jay

I still test positive for TB 4 years later. I take Humira for crohn's disease so they usually give you a tb test once a year since the meds make you susceptible to Lung TB. I had PTSD about sticking my hands in fish tanks for a while but now I am back at it. Long gloves of course. Haha.