Hole in Head Lateral Line...

J

JPDonohue171

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 27, 2007
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Folcroft, PA
I have a new marbled lungfish which I believe is Protopterus aethiopicus congicus.It has some small pits in its head/face just above its eyes.
Are these natural, or is it Hole in Head/Lateral Line Erosion?

I just got the fish and I do not know its previous conditions.

It eats well and moves about the tank, exploring, taking a breath etc.
I am going to upload two pics. The large headshot is from the web and it shows the pits that I am talking about. The other pic is my lungfish.
Thanks

Jeff

Protopterus annectens African lungfish.jpg

lung.jpg
 
E_americanus

E_americanus

Penguin Lover
MFK Member
Aug 14, 2004
3,790
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Louisiana
primitivefishes.com
your lungfish (second pic) is actually a Protopterus annectens, and a nicely patterned one at that :)

there are a few theories out there about lateral line erosion in lungfishes, and phil (oddball) and i had discussed this quite a bit back a few years ago. one of the most effective treatments we came up with was adding variety to the diet, especially including spirulina to the diet (veggie sticks, algae wafters, etc). the plant matter seems to help. along with that very frequent and large water changes will help reduce the erosion as well.

i've seen this work with my specimens who had this problem, as well as others. try the vegetable matter/water changes treatment and your lungfish should come around in a matter of weeks. good luck!--
--solomon
 
J

JPDonohue171

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 27, 2007
8
0
0
Folcroft, PA
The store had it listed and Protopterus annectens.
Web searches of the two produce lots of results, in some they both look alike to me. In others neither looks like the specimen I have.
My Baensch atlas only list dolloi and fishbase isn't much help either.
In one place I found it mentioned that annectens has three external gills behind the operculum. Does aethiopicus have them also?
How can you the difference between Protopterus aethiopicus and Protopterus annectens?
 
E_americanus

E_americanus

Penguin Lover
MFK Member
Aug 14, 2004
3,790
28
68
46
Louisiana
primitivefishes.com
JPDonohue171;1162485; said:
The store had it listed and Protopterus annectens.
Web searches of the two produce lots of results, in some they both look alike to me. In others neither looks like the specimen I have.
My Baensch atlas only list dolloi and fishbase isn't much help either.
In one place I found it mentioned that annectens has three external gills behind the operculum. Does aethiopicus have them also?
How can you the difference between Protopterus aethiopicus and Protopterus annectens?
Click to expand...
your fish is definitely a P. annectens. there is a detail with the insertion of the dorsal fin...it's farther back on aethiopicus and more anterior on annectens. check out the lungfishes section on www.primitivefish.com for solid ID of all species--
--solomon
 
E_americanus

E_americanus

Penguin Lover
MFK Member
Aug 14, 2004
3,790
28
68
46
Louisiana
primitivefishes.com
JPDonohue171;1163241; said:
Thanks for the info - very helpful.
Also, congrats on the awesome website. A great resource!
Jeff
Click to expand...
thanks man, and always glad to help! if you have further questions about your lungfish, feel free to post and/or PM too. best of luck, and keep in mind the diet variation/water changes issue and your lungfish should heal right up (this has worked for both phil -oddball- and myself over the years). thanks again for the comments on the site :) --
--solomon
 
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