Wrasse with the spins

94Roarge · Jun 17, 2017

I got a fairy wrasse today that seems to be brain dead.
It just swims in tight circles all day and with it's body oriented in any direction.
What would this be a symptom for?
(I didn't pay anything for it)
Another note, if it is cyanide poisoned, would feeding it to one of my preds then pass on the poisoning?
Aaand could I get an I.D. on the species also?

94Roarge · Jun 17, 2017

@Humblefish

Treasure Coast · Jun 17, 2017

Might be a broken spine?

94Roarge · Jun 17, 2017

Treasure Coast said:
Might be a broken spine?

Great point! I never considered that aha.
What are it's chances if it has a broken spine?

Treasure Coast · Jun 17, 2017

I had a wrasse that it happened to. It hung on for about a week or so. It was still trying to eat etc, but never recovered. Not sure how it happened, the only thing I could think of was it maybe rammed into the glass or a rock when being chased?

94Roarge · Jun 17, 2017

Aw :/ did it fade out or did you help it get to fishy paradise?

Treasure Coast · Jun 17, 2017

She disappeared, I'm guessing she passed and the Harlequin Tusk ate her. The thread below someone had success.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/q...-this-even-possible-help.270436/#post-3248680

94Roarge · Jun 17, 2017

Treasure Coast said:
She disappeared, I'm guessing she passed and the Harlequin Tusk ate her. The thread below someone had success.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/q...-this-even-possible-help.270436/#post-3248680

Awesome! I think I have some M Blue on hand, so I'll check it out tomorrow

melypr1985 · Jun 17, 2017

It's hard to say what's wrong with it, but the spinal injury is possible for sure. If that's the case he either gets better or doesn't. The MB bath is a good idea and if you can get him eating it's even better.

94Roarge · Jun 17, 2017

melypr1985 said:
It's hard to say what's wrong with it, but the spinal injury is possible for sure. If that's the case he either gets better or doesn't. The MB bath is a good idea and if you can get him eating it's even better.

It has been relatively active; though very derpy. I have it in a box at the moment, so it should be safe.
Do you have any idea on the "passing on" of potential cyanide poisoning? Though I think it is an Aussie caught, but I can't remember which order it came in on.

Maritimer · Jun 17, 2017

I wouldn't chance it...

Cyanide isn't the only thing it could pass on to your predatory fish. A nervous-system parasite could also be involved, and some of those guys get from one fish to another that way.

~Bruce

94Roarge · Jun 17, 2017

Maritimer said:
I wouldn't chance it...

Cyanide isn't the only thing it could pass on to your predatory fish. A nervous-system parasite could also be involved, and some of those guys get from one fish to another that way.

~Bruce

That is something new to me! Thanks again

I'll see how it goes in the mean time.
Could you tell me some stuff about these parasites? I would love to learn about them.

Maritimer · Jun 17, 2017

Some of them produce an effect called "whirling disease", which has been encountered in North America - not certain about Australia.

Found this account as well, obviously about a North American west-coast critter:

The fluke Euhaplorchis californiensis begins its life in an ocean-dwelling horn snail, where it produces larvae that then seek their next host, a killifish. (See "The Puppet Master's Medicine Chest.")

Once it finds a fish, the parasite latches on to its gills and makes its way to the brain. But this isn't its final stop.

The fluke needs to get inside the gut of a water bird in order to reproduce. So inside the killifish's brain, the fluke releases chemicals that cause the fish to shimmy, jerk, and jump.

Jenny Shaw, then at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and colleagues found that the parasite decreases serotonin and increases dopamine levels in the fish's brain. The switch in this brain chemistry stimulates the fish to swim and behave more aggressively.

These moves attract the attention of birds, which may eat the fish—and the flukes. The flukes mate, and their eggs are released back into the water in the bird's droppings to be eaten by horn snails and start the cycle anew.