histro fins

[rick rottet]

I have two Gobiodon histro and two Gobiodon okinawae in a 40 gal breeder tank-mixed reef. One of the histro has begun to exhibit caudal fin and dorsal fins which are jagged like saw teeth. Pectoral and anal fins are unaffected. This histro is also becoming more reclusive than usual but still feeds per usual. The other three clown gobies (coral gobies-HEEHEE) are not displaying/behaving unusually.

Can you identify this malady? Any treatments?

Thanks.

[Sloeber]

hey rick,

the photo is too blurry to be of any use, sorry.

if the problem is fin rot, then you have some sort of bacterial infection that must be treated or else the fish will perish. even still, treatment is usualll not too effective as by the time we notice the illness it is already too late. let's hope this is not the problem.

i'm prepared to make a guess that your fish isn't sick at all, but instead is the male of the pair and has the worn fins from constantly cleaning and preparing of the nest. also, it is not always accountable because it is guarding eggs. perhaps you should watch where this little guy is disappearing to and see if he isn't guarding a nest of eggs.

however, if you still beleive your fish is ill, i'd reccomend you take your questions to RC's disease treatment forum. the staff there can offer much better advice on the subject than i can.

HTH

henry

[rick rottet]

Yeah, that pic is terrible but he/she has been so reclusive the last couple of weeks that I snapped one when I could.
Yep. Already have a thread posted there too.
The two yellow clown gobies spawn about every 8 or 12 days in a colony of Acropora and the male of that pair never has had any damage to his fins. I have noticed that the males tend to be a little thinner than the females and the damaged histro is the smaller of the two. He? hides in the back side of the tank in a crevice of the rockwork where the glass is covered by corraline (of course). Maybe I can try to get a dental mirror down in there. I guess I am spoiled with the yellows because they spawn center stage of the aquarium. (As an unrelated note, I have about thirty minutes of their spawning ritual on video). The histro pair has been in the tank about fourteen months and the okinawae pair about eighteen months. I have never witnessed any intra/interspecific aggression but was almost hoping that it would turn out to be some sort of physical damage. Maybe your still right though because he does still dart out to eat as enthusiastically as ever, just cant ever find him unless theres food in the water. I was thinking that since the male only guards the nest for four to five days at a time, that he should be out more than he is. I have seen and heard of some Gobiodon spawning in places other than Acro so maybe they are back in the rock crevice. Has been reclusive for about two weeks now-about as long as I have noticed the fin damage. Just thinking out loud here.
Thanks again. Ill see if I can get a better pic for both forums.

[Sloeber]

interesting comments, rick. is the video of the spawning available on the internet for viewing?

FWIW, my histrio spawn in my frogspawn :)

[rick rottet]

The video isnt digitalized (old RCA camcorder) so I wouldnt have a clue about how to go about getting it online. I could bring it to a meeting and play it through a VCR though.
Yeah, my "female?" histro loves to swim through the tentacles of my Euphyllia paradivisa.
I just noticed you are writing histrio-am I misspelling-histro?
Someone from the fish disease forum also guessed physical damage-thought that bacterial fin rot would be associated with damage going back to the body of the fish, not just the fins and possibly associated with red streaks. Would you agree?

[rick rottet]

Heres another pic. I may have caught something here. This is the female okinawae and the male histro. She still didnt try to nip at him, just escorted him to his crevice. Would it be likely that either or both pair (or any individual) may become more agressive if both pair are breeding. I havent ever witnessed any spawning behavior from the histros but maybe they naturally are more reclusive?

[rick rottet]

Should have been more clear with the question about the agressiveness. I know they become more agressive with a nest present but was wondering if they might be even more so if they knew a nest of another Gobiodon was present-you know like kill the competition? The second pic is much better and at least shows the dorsal fin.

[Sloeber]

it is spelled Gobiodon histrio

Someone from the fish disease forum also guessed physical damage-thought that bacterial fin rot would be associated with damage going back to the body of the fish, not just the fins and possibly associated with red streaks. Would you agree?


if the damage has not increased in the last couple days, it is most likely not an illness.

I havent ever witnessed any spawning behavior from the histros but maybe they naturally are more reclusive?


mine spawn under the cover of LPS polyps completely out of sight, so...

I know they become more agressive with a nest present but was wondering if they might be even more so if they knew a nest of another Gobiodon was present-you know like kill the competition?

FWIW i have been unable to mix multi species with my spawning histrio. however, i cannot fault my histrio as being aggressive as i haven't witnessed it.

[rick rottet]

Thanks again for your time Henry. It doesnt appear that the damage has gotten any worse during the fleeting moments I am able to see him. Seems to be a consensus leaning towards harassment/physical damage. Will consider seperating the couples (UGH)-probably will be easier to get a net over the Acro colony and remove the pair of yellows.

[Sloeber]

be sure to update us with any new info!

[rick rottet]

:thumbsup:
:fish1: