Wrasse with enormous swollen belly

[artieg1]

Yellow coris wrasse, looks like it swallowed a marble. Eating fine. Behavior fine. Have not seen it defecate (but I am not watching it 24/7). Been this way 6 weeks. No trauma or anything that I know of. Look at photos. Seems to be getting bigger, if anything.

Ideas? No way I am catching it, and not going to treat the DT, so not sure what I can do if it is something recognizable. But curious.

Thanks!

 

[ihavecrabs]

Lets get some expert eyes on this. I'm extremely curious.

#Reefsquad

 

[KJ]

@Humblefish @4FordFamily @Brew12 @HotRocks

 

[reef lover]

Oh myyyyy!! Following.

 

[kchristensen8064]

Did you have a really big pod population and he's just uncontrollably gorging himself? My yellow coris always has a belly on it because he goes to town on pods all day... It's never that big but he definitely is always fat and happy.

 

[Lasse]

Still eating? In the second picture - it looks like the fat area in reality is like two bags hanging down - is that true?

Sincerely Lasse

 

[4FordFamily]

I’m more inclined to believe that this is a mass growing within the fish. Constipation that bad would surely have led to death by now.

Unfortunately if that’s the case I don’t know that there’s anything you can do

 

[Humblefish]

I’m more inclined to believe that this is a mass growing within the fish. Constipation that bad would surely have led to death by now.

Unfortunately if that’s the case I don’t know that there’s anything you can do

^^ Agree; but rolling the dice on it being a gas bubble would be my next move: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/venting-a-swim-bladder-black-cap-basslet.219954/

Not much to lose by trying, as I can't see the fish living with that long-term.

 

[Lasse]

A gas bubble whould alter the swimming patterns. Does the fish swim normally?

Sincerely Lasse

 

[PerplexyHexy]

Did you have a really big pod population and he's just uncontrollably gorging himself? My yellow coris always has a belly on it because he goes to town on pods all day... It's never that big but he definitely is always fat and happy.

My sixline has the same huge belly throughout the day... He eats pods and bristleworms all day long... looks like hes gonna blow... hahahaha! Im not saying thats what it is, but mine is perfectly healthy... just eats alot

 

[Lasse]

Constipation that bad would surely have led to death by now.

I agree with that but my thinking was that something have gone bad with the gonads - that´s why I ask if the swollen belly was in the form off 2 "sacks"

Sincerely Lasse

 

[artieg1]

Thanks for replies! Additional facts: swimming perfectly normal, I really don't think it is swim bladder. Lasse: no, not 2 sacks, it is just swollen and flat. Poop is white, and not a lot of it. Not stringy. And anyway, he had 2 rounds of prazi early in summer, when I hospital tanked everyone for 72 days after velvet outbreak earlier in the year.

 

[vanpire]

I had the same thing happened with my Christmas wrasse. Ate fine but died about 6 months after I notice the very “fat” stomach.

 

[Lasse]

I´m sorry to say but I think that this fish will be history sooner or later. However - if the stomach is flat below and the swollen part is symmetricall on both sides - it can still be the gonads. In some cases this can reverse. That you have poop, even if it is white, indicate that the stomach still working. I do not believe in internal intenstine parasites because if so - fishes normally get tinner by time. It could be a cyst of some kind - it happens even among fishes. A last question - is the fish less shy than before?

Sincerely Lasse

 

[artieg1]

Such awesome questions! Lasse, I would say behavior is, shockingly, the same as always. No more or less shy. Jumps on food like usual, but is not bossy. It does seem to be some kind of unsightly gigantic cyst.

I agree, it is difficult to see this not impacting health at some point. All our fishes (and we!) will be history sooner or later. I am just glad it does not appear to be suffering.

 

[Lasse]

The reason why I ask if it was less shy was because there is a parasite (a rather large worm) that can infect some fishes. It has an interesting life cycle. Start with an infected copepod, the copepod will be eaten of a fish and develop inside the fish to adult stage and size. In some way it affect the fish to be less shy and to go near the surface. This because next stage is that a bird will eat the fish and the parasite. The parasite lay eggs inside the bird and they will be in the pop that will be eaten of copepods that will be eaten of a...…

If the fish die - please - if you can - cut it up an try to see what it is

Sincerely Lasse

 

[artieg1]

Update. Today it was lying on the sand, barely moving gills. Euthanized and cut it open. Lots of fluid and tissue in the swollen area. No parasites I could see. sampled some under a microscope. Same, nothing that I could see.

 

[Lasse]

Did it eat during the last days? Did the fluid smell? The last stage of African bloat produce a lot of bad smelling fluids in the belly region - probably a result of a serve peritonitis. In this cases you can´t find any traces of a stomach or intestines. They are all gone.

If there was no bad smell and you could see the internal organs - it was probably a tumour.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[reef lover]

Sorry....