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Hi, one of my common Ancistrus has a black spot. I know that some wildcaught fish may "import" some black spots, but this is a albino and have, i guess, never seen the wilderness. The spot is slowly becomming larger but otherwise the fish behaves normaly. Shall I do something about it?
See pic at http://photo.starblvd.net/Steen?st=albu ... 843E184A08 , last pic.

What do you think it is?
Do the fish in question rest a special place e.g. near the heater?

-Klaus

Hi Klaus!
Do you thinl that could be the way the skin would like after cicatrizing after being burn by the heater!!!
It could be a possibility but so far each time I have seen a Loricariidae, injured by a heater or by a tank mate and to the point that there is a total decolouration of the skin, I have always seen the normal colour coming back.
Now this is happening with normal colouration fish and not with selected colour morph, I have never witness such thing on such fish.
Sure the form and the place of it may lead to such thing. I could not see any other thing!
Cheers
Yann

Hi
No it's not a "heater" problem (have no heaters in at all right now, for some reason the temp is 25-27 anyway). I have read somewhere/sometime that there are some parasites with multiple hosts (snail-fish -bird i think) who give black spots on fish. But this fish have never been in nature so I don't know what is is. I keep the fish so far, it's still behaving/acting normally.
Maybe fish can get cancer and it is a tumor?
Steen

Hi Steen!

You are talking about Metacecarien, but you will find these only in the skin region, and not where the armor plate are so you can forget that idea. secondly your fish will be covered with such thing in many different places, mouth, ventral, fins, around the eyes... and there is no way it will get that big on only one place, they seem to grow if place allow it to, to rather the same size everywhere, finally the black colouration of these would not be that intense, because each one is seperated form the other!
Cheers
Yann

Hi Yann

thanks for the description, have never seen it just read about it. That posibility is then out of the way. The little albino actually have one more spot on one ventral fin but it can't be seen one the pic. Guess I have to wait and see what's happining and hope it's not spreading (well i don't think so)

Ya know this raises an interesting question. Is there not a detailed fish disease book on the market? I have seen seen some articles for diseases but usually in regards to commercial food fish, but even then the pickings are poor. Form what I know this forum is home to some of the worlds leading catfish scientists, yet I don't think I have ever seen anyone mention a paper/journal/or book on catfish diseases. mmmmmm... i think that this would be a big seller!

SH

Well, there are already tons of very detailed books on fish diseases, especially in fisheries sciences (where diagnosis and treatment is an important issue).
If you're really into it, here are some very technical tomes available as many large pdf downloads:
http://www.cabi-publishing.org/Bookshop ... 991262.asp
http://www.cabi-publishing.org/Bookshop ... 991947.asp

PS. SirHelm and anyone interested in pursuing this should start a new thread on fish disease books...don't want this thread to go OT after all.

Cool thanks silirus!

SH