The Puffer Forum

i was leaving for spring break and i noticed that my f8 wasn't eating but there wasn't anything i could do because i had to leave that day so i was hoping that he was just tired or something but now i came back and noticed a worm like imprint on his stomach that is all bendy and a little hole at the end of it. will this effect the other fish in the tank and how do i get rid of it. i already looked at the article you have given out to others and i didn't see anything pertaining to this problem.

Can you get a picture?

i don't have a camera that could take a good enough pic. ill try to describe it the best way i can.

its like a curvy pattern on his stomach that is see through. around the middle is the hole but everything is on the inside, nothing is hanging out. i went to my lfs and they gave me a thing called gel tek for internal parasites. its something they are supposed to eat to treat for stuff that isn't hanging out of them. that's about the best i can do.

Don't bother, it is a nematode. Do a search here on them.

is there anything i can do about this?

No, fish can live quite a while with them. I would seperate him from other fish, so they don't get it. If you try to killl the worm, the body will rot inside the fish.

this is a sad day as wen wen (the f8) will no longer live a happy life. thank you for the help.

He might still live many happy and relatively healthy years even w/ a nematode.

What are the other fish in the tank with him? They may all be infected.

Not usually likely--but possible.

In-tank transmission of body cavity and somatic tissue worms is quite rare. These fish are the second intermediate host of a complex life cycle which is highly unlikely to be completed in an indoor tank. In ponds it is possible but still unlikely unless the pond is quite large and complex.

I was just reading up on nematodes. Very interesting creatures. And very gross :p

Somatic nematodes were one of the biggest hurdles in keeping and breeding the Madagascar chameleons. Once captive bred became available, the issues were much reduced. Such things are not just a fish issue.

If the fish is large enough, it is technically possible to remove somatic nematodes from some locations surgically. It is the rare fish that survives the operation however. Best on a small fish like a F8 to do nothing.