The Bluespot Club

[bluespotjawfish]

Thanks guys!

[strahinja1]

I found the quote below on marine breeder.com while trying to figure out what was wrong with my jawfish. he has all the typical symptoms of bluespotted jawfish disease. first one then another white large "blotch" on one side of "tail." the side that seems to contact the substrate most when entering burrow. also some scratching on substrate. but i only saw him do this three or four times early on. it looked like he was trying to stir up food. before i found this i was preety sure it was a transparent fluke that was causing secondary infection at the entry point where it attaches. However i first noticed spots over a month ago. My fish is still alive. I havent treated with anything yet since no one knows exactly whats wrong and he does eat. I started adding kent marine garlic extreme to his mysis and that has seemed to help alot(increased appetite, increased movement, return to burrow building).Anyone know how long this clown fish pathogen takes to kill a fish. i thought it was like 48 hours. Anyway here is that letter i found.

"Once settled into the aquarium that has a very tight fitting lid and covered overflow boxes in reef ready aquariums, Blue Dot Jawfish require several feedings a day of enriched mysis and other meaty fare. When provided with the proper environment and husbandry, and with the acquisition of a healthy, quarantined specemine, these fish can adapt well to most reef aquaria that are maintained between 70-80 degrees, and live for many years.

Unfortunately the biggest problem with Opistognathus rosenblatti is the handling of these fish directly after they are harvested. When these fish are stressed by overcrowding and are exposed to less than ideal water conditions, this can open to doors to numerous bacterial infections and other pathogens from open wounds, or lack of protective body slime (they can be very aggressive among themselves when kept together in tight quarters).

Some Blue Dot Jawfish are not handled properly, and this normally will not show up until weeks later as they travel through the chain of custody. This is why some hobbyists and retailers may have very poor luck when trying to maintain this species.

They key to success with this incredible fish is to make sure you obtain a very healthy specimen that has been handled and cared for properly all through the chain of custody. Purchasing specimen from a place that has strict quarantine procedures, and can administer the proper antibiotics if the fish shows signs of disease is very critical. Once in your care and provided with the criteria listed above, this beautiful fish should adapt well and be happy and healthy for many years to come.

On some occasions during the collection, holding and handling of these fish before export coupled with the transport stress through the chain of custody, Opistognathus rosenblatti will oftentimes be affected by a ciliated protozoan that will manifest itself on the fishes body. Once these protozoans become overbearing for the fish (which can happen in just 24-48 hours), they cause severe stress and even death to these fish very quickly.

Proper quarantine procedures are critical for this species so that if these protozoans affect the fish, a treatment protocol can be incorporated immediately as Jawfish do not have large thick scales for protection. Due to this common problem we incorporate Formalin baths and a few other proprietary techniques to combat this issue, with very good results.

More often than not this pathogen is Brooklynella hostilis, the same ciliated protozoan that affect clownfish in the marine aquarium trade.


Regards,
Kevin Kohen
Director of LiveAquaria
Drs. Foster and Smith

[strahinja1]

This is what originally made me think it was flukes. There was a part that also explained how even stores had trouble finding these flukes and would end up treating/chasing the symptoms with some success and then failure, but i couldn't find it. Anyway, I would just like to know if anyone has figured out anything for sure about this mysterious disease. I would also like to see a thing on the club just to discuss this.
"After seeing the cloudy eye part it got me thinking that you may have a trematode called the Eye Fluke (a Neobenedenia sp. trematode) which has become very common place in the trade and esp. with Hawaiian fish. Because it is virtually impossible to see (it's clear) one needs to be familiar with the symptoms and this can pose some problems because the symptoms are often due to secondary infection and are treated as such without going after the cause. See my PM for a more detailed explanation.

"It'll look like that but really small. The largest I've seen where only about two to three mm . You probably will never see them on the fish with the exception of it being on the eye and then it's still hard to see though the eye will look cloudy. A FW dip will reveal their presence. You'll see little off white looking ovals floating around the dip water. I've noticed that the seem to come off by the ten minute mark. Symptoms I've noticed are reddened areas,ulcerated areas,cloudy eyes,frayed/ragged fins,blotchy skin coloration,lethargy,labored respiration,and scratching. These are when the fish have a fairly heavy infestation and it may only show some of them. You may not see or notice anything with a light load. The effects noticed are due to they way the trematode attaches itself and can cause entry sights for secondary infections. The cloudy eye can be the actual trematode your are seeing . Prolonged exposure can cause the fish to loose a eye and eventually result in death if nothing is done.I've used Aquarium Products Fluke tabs,Seachem Paragaurd,and Hikari Prazipro with success but I like the Hikari product the best.


I wouldn't be too hard on any place with them. It would be easy for a fish to pass through with this problem and go undetected."

This was written by a guy named "just dave".

[bluespotjawfish]

Welcome!

We have several links to information about disease on the front page. Scott has even disected a Bluespot. You are welcome to continue this discussion in this thread or start another one in the Buespot forum specific to disease. I tried with the "what you need to know" thread, but everyone seems to come home to this thread. If you have any links you feel would be good to post on our front page, send them to me and I will add them there too.

Typically they die in a very short timeframe from whatever it is that they have (appear fine one day, not eating for a day, dead the next). I treated several Bluespots last year without success. Now, it might just be the methods I used were wrong, but I exhausted what I could think of (including the formalin dip).

The light patches are purely a sign of stress (which could be from disease or environmental conditions). When introducing a Bluespot, a lower salinity (even just 1.020) and lower temp (76-77) will help the immune system of an otherwise healthy speciman bounce back from a stressed condition such as shipping. Garlic and other vitamin enriched foods are also important.

[lcstorc]

Frank is at work and he takes the good pics, but I will see what I can get when the lights come on and she comes out to play.
Frank added a yellow corris wrass to the tank without talking to me. I was scared to death about Sunshine but she easily showed her dominance and the fact that she owns the tank and only tollerates others.

[strahinja1]

Lorraine, was one of those products prazi pro? Do you think there is a common killer here, or are these fish just not getting proper care and dying of various maladies that affect stressed out fish.

[SeahorseBT]

i had a yellow coris with mine and he never bothered my Blue spots.

[lcstorc]

That is nice to hear Blake. I wasn't so much worried about Sunshine once I saw her chase it away repeatedly but that is supposed to be my seahorse tank and up until now I have only added seahorse compatable livestock.

[strahinja1]

I also found this post on reefcentral, which i understand you guys dont like. its another dissection and necropsy somebody performed. Though not as scientifically presented as Scotty's, it claims conclusive results. I also think it was a good idea to examine the gills as labored breathing seems to be a persistent symptom in nearly all cases. in future cases i think it would be good to microscopically examine the skin. Heres the results. i think i

"i would like to note that today i took a preserved blue spot jawfish, one of my recent deaths, and had a psuedo autospy performed. the results are only for this one fish. i hae no idea if others are infected likewise.

we located gill worms throughout the gills. most likely Cleiodiscus or Dactylogyrus spp. in stressed fish these gill worms, and the subsequent bacterial infection that follows from the stress of the parsite, can cause a quick death. symtoms would be heavy breathing, excess slime - particularly from the gills in the late stages, flared gills, loss of wieght, and scraping against the rocks. eventually the stress will lead to a secondary bacterial infection. together they will kill the jawfish.

treatment is as easy as a FW dip, though it may best to treat for a bacterial infection just in case.

do a quick google search under Cleiodiscus or Dactylogyrus for more info."- written by guy named hcs3 on reefcentral.

[lcstorc]

We have no problem gaining knowledge from other sites and there is reference to another RC thread earlier in this one. They didn't have this information at that time so I find that very interresting. Hopefully I will never need it but if I start seeing a problem it will be something to certainly consider.

[bluespotjawfish]

Yes, I used prazi pro and stronger parasitic meds. Also tried freshwater dip, hyposalinity. Also bacterial treatments. Also just monitored and the past few I just dumped in the tank and said fend for yourself.

Go figure, the one in the tank is one I dumped in there and didn't expect to make it.

I don't consider myself good at medicating fish or diagnosing problems. So, take that into account when I said I tried it. I did try and follow instructions, but sometimes, the stress to the fish caused me abort treatments.

Now, I gotta go find my pics of the screen I made...

[bluespotjawfish]

Jumping through eggcrate...
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...tml#post241741

The screen concept with pond netting...mine has 6 corners on it since I had to work around an overflow...
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...tml#post247782

[GSELLERS]

Originally Posted by lcstorc

No way.
Where are you getting it?
I hope it is fat and healthy.

i have a wholesaler connection here in florida and i get livestock for CHEAP!!! all are fat pigs too. last time i bought 20 of them and all were sold before i got home

[Craig Manoukian]

Way cool Mr. Sellers!

[Witfull]

the biggest RS blue spotter says HI.....Z in now over 4ft.....yes 4 FEET...and says i loce you all~