What's this on my BSJF ?

[ekovalsky]

Jasper has this "bubble" on his belly. I first saw it a few days ago, it looked like he was delivering a large greyish piece of poop and I didn't think much about it. The poop-looking stuff is gone, but now there is this bubble/sac at the same place. What is it ?

I think Jasper is actually a female based on body and fin structure but am not sure. There is only one BSJF in the tank.

He/she is eating fine and active, going back and forth between a few burrows in the front of the tank and defending them from the other fish. Before the lights go off he tends to leave the burrow and hang out at the top of the rockwork which is where I snapped these pics tonight. Not sure why, the baby dwarf lionfish does tend to survey the bottom for worms and other wiggles so maybe he is avoiding that (though I've seen them in close quarters and the lionfish doesn't overtly stress out the jawfish like the tangs do).

Sorry for the lousy quality of the pictures, I had the use flash since the MH were already off and only the actinics were on. Without the flash the long exposure resulted in a blurry pic obscuring the item of concern.

Any ideas on what this is ? I did a bit of research and didn't come up with anything, other than "pouch emphysema" or something like that described in seahorses...

Thanks
& Merry Xmas

[Dentoid]

Never seen anything like it. Keep a close eye on it and keep us posted.

[bluespotjawfish]

Does it change in size throughout the day?
Is it still there?

I also haven't seen this before.

[ekovalsky]

Yes, still there. Doesn't seem to change in size. It almost looks like a prolapsed rectum/anus -- something I've never heard of in fish.

Jasper is acting a bit weird, spending more and more time out of his burrow and swimming around the tank. He has swam right up to the front glass on several occasions when I approach the tank. Hopefully this just means he is getting more comfortable. He is eating less than he used to, but probably a normal amount. At first he was majorly pigging out and probably overeating.

I'll be pretty devastated if this ends up being something bad, particularly since I finally got the tank secured after losing three BSJF to jumping...