yes they are though it looks really pain full. gotta tell yeas though im worried about this poor guy these growths seem to be spreading to his head. w/e this is its the first time i have ever seen it ! the majority of the time he has hit doral down and you see all the pimple like growths. The ones on his head are no were near the size of the ones on his dorsal. I have treated with pazi and will treat with mel blue and see how it goes. Ummm the position of these pimps though loeads me to believe thats its not from fighting. For the life of me i cannot find a pic of a dat with the dat disease. This hasn't spread to any other fish yet but hes in quarantine for wile i supect.