Re: Strange looking fish

[Mike & Diane Wise <apistowise@bewellnet.com>]

Kathy & Gabi,

The black blotches I had on my fish were not discrete spots, but more like
irregular edged blotches of black pigment anywhere from 3 to 7 mm in diameter.
Perhaps a melanoma?

Mike Wise

alex pastor wrote:

> Kathy Olson Wrote:
>
> >It is a parasite.  Don't recall the name off the top of my head. (will
> >look it up if I get a chance)
> >
> >Comes in on fish, but requires a bird in the life cycle so usually doesn't
> >spread to other fish.  Doesn't seem to harm the fish either.
> >
> >Kathy
>
> There are two things that can appear as black discrete blotches about 1mm in
> diameter on the skin of fish.  One of the is Glochidia-producing freshwater
> bivalve molluscs.  The larvae attach to the skin and gills of fish and
> incite a hyperplastic response in the fish's epithelium.  Eventually, the
> parasites are shed when they metamorphose into adult clams.  So it's a time
> limited thing.  Not unusual on either wild caught or pond raised fish.
> Unless they are super infested, the fish behave totally normally.
>
> Then there is another one that looks very similar and may be the one Kathy
> is writing about with the multiple hosts, but I can't remember for the life
> of me what it is.  Neither parasite is, as Kathy writes, dangerous to the
> fish.
>
> Then of course, fish get bruises when they get into their territorial snits
> with one another.  It's not that unusual to see darkish, small blotches on
> apistos where they've 'bit' one another.  Females fight for spawning site,
> and males fight for females.  These clear up in a few days, and then are
> replaced by new blotches when they are in the 'mood' for spawning and there
> are limited spawning sites.
>
> Gabi Kadar
> Toronto
>
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