Weird round impressions?

[foxt]

Ok, this is weird. My foxface has developed two almost perfectly circular impressions on its body, one on both sides. Apologies for the crappy and blue cell phone pictures and ignore what looks like parasites, just dirty glass:

Is there some weird circle-impression-making affliction or pest that is attacking this fish? What could have caused this? You may not be able to make it out, but the marks do appear to be "perfect" circles, and the same size. An obvious cause could be similarly shaped pump/flow inlets that the fish got sucked up against and it left a mark. But I have no such things in my tank. I have an mp40 with a custom anemone guard and two gyres with the standard cages, nothing like this shape. I do have two tangs (the kole was photobombing), but slashes from them would look different. Maybe anemone stings, but perfect circles of the same size? Then I thought maybe it could be from some sort of super sucker snail or conch, but that doesn't make sense and the shape is wrong. Also thought of bite marks, but for the life of me I can't figure out what would be big enough to do this - the kole and the foxface are the two biggest fish in there.

I just noticed these this morning, so they happened sometime in the last 24hours. I give up. What the heck is this?

 

[anth]

What other fish do u have?
Do u have an algae blenny?

 

[foxt]

Wrasses, dwarf angels, bannerfish, tangs, a mandarin, and yes, an algae blenny. The blenny’s mouth doesn’t seem like it could be that big though. But the only logical explanation is some kind of bite ...

 

[WVNed]

Kole tang love bites

 

[Qasimja]

my tomato clown does that to my rabbitfish if he gets too close to the anemone she only does it to him to thou nobody else maybe she has a bone to pick with him lol

 

[najer]

I would say not a blenny, wrong shape, do you have anything in the tank that is circular that it might press against?

 

[foxt]

Thanks all!

I would say not a blenny, wrong shape, do you have anything in the tank that is circular that it might press against?

That was what I first thought as well. But there isn't anything shaped like that inside the tank.

my tomato clown does that to my rabbitfish if he gets too close to the anemone she only does it to him to thou nobody else maybe she has a bone to pick with him lol

My two ocellaris do defend their turf near the anemone, although I haven't seen them going after the foxface. I'll keep an eye out.

Kole tang love bites

This is looking like the culprit, although the marks form circles in my case and not in yours. Maybe my kole considers himself an artrist, or he just likes geometry? I am surprised at the size of the marks relative to the size of the mouth on the kole - the marks seem so much larger, but after being in this hobby for a long time nothing should surprise me at this point.

Thanks!

 

[anth]

I was just saying in another thread the other day i seen this happen to a naso tang a couple of years ago and it was this shape. And i seen the algae blenny doing it more than once which is why i gave it away.

 

[WVNed]

Any bristletooth tang and many blennies leave a mark similar to these.

 

[Zionas]

Wow. Didn’t realize the Bristletooth Tangs bite!

 

[foxt]

Wow. Didn’t realize the Bristletooth Tangs bite!

... and leave such perfect and large circles behind!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Looks like that of a tang and they could be going after slime coat on the fish but nevertheless is an issue that can lead to bacterial/fungal issue on fish.
I would separate the kole eye or similar suspect from tank 24-48 hours and see if impressions stop - Then you know who it is

 

[sfin52]

Looks like that of a tang and they could be going after slime coat on the fish but nevertheless is an issue that can lead to bacterial/fungal issue on fish.
I would separate the kole eye or similar suspect from tank 24-48 hours and see if impressions stop - Then you know who it is

Agree.

 

[WVNed]

My fish have these every once in a while. I have never seen one go bad yet and most of the time they are gone in the next day or 2.

 

[foxt]

Looks like that of a tang and they could be going after slime coat on the fish but nevertheless is an issue that can lead to bacterial/fungal issue on fish.
I would separate the kole eye or similar suspect from tank 24-48 hours and see if impressions stop - Then you know who it is

I agree with the idea, but easier said than done. It’s a 220 with rock, etc. The good news is there are no new marks.

My fish have these every once in a while. I have never seen one go bad yet and most of the time they are gone in the next day or 2.

I am keeping a close eye on it. The marks are rapidly fading, and the fish is behaving normally.