Are my bichirs blind or con artists?

[Hendre]

Some feeding, they seem to mouth around a lot. I often see them finding sand then spitting it out again

 

[Mighty Wizard]

Holy crap man that Senegal with the light blotches/patterns is seriously awesome! Saw it in a pic in that other thread, I half thought it was just a ****ty picture but from seeing the video now..

Is it a purebred? Hybrid? Moar pics plzzz!

 

[Hendre]

It's a skin infection, nothing to laugh about.

Been struggling with it for a while, persistent MB with Quinine seems to be the cure but I have to keep at it

 

[Mighty Wizard]

It's a skin infection, nothing to laugh about.

Been struggling with it for a while, persistent MB with Quinine seems to be the cure but I have to keep at it

Oh I see, that sucks then. Never seen it before, something to look out for I guess. What are the symptoms, other than blotched scales? Is the fish incapacitated in any way? Can it be fatal?

Here's to a speedy recovery.

 

[twentyleagues]

Yeah those spots are crazy. What causes it? And is it a cure or just a treatment?

 

[Hendre]

Oh I see, that sucks then. Never seen it before, something to look out for I guess. What are the symptoms, other than blotched scales? Is the fish incapacitated in any way? Can it be fatal?

Here's to a speedy recovery.

Blotches are the main thing, haven't noticed anything else bad. It took hold when I was sorting out bichir worms.

Yeah those spots are crazy. What causes it? And is it a cure or just a treatment?

It's an ectoparasite, most likely chilodinella. Methylene blue with Quinine (Marltons anti Ich) is a good treatment, and good water too. I need to keep up with my dosing

 

[Jafar P Arab]

Old topic, but it's interesting, so what the hell.

Polypterids don't have completely useless eyes, they have extremely good night vision for example, resulting from an almost identical mechanism to that of cats. This also makes their vision blurry, which makes them rely on other senses to a greater degree. The most obvious one is their very keen sense of smell. Their sense of smell however is far from enough, and they use their smell in conjunction with their other senses to catch prey and navigate their environment.

For example, they have a sophisticated lateral line system, used to detect changes in pressure, electrical impulses, and shockwaves in the water. In many ways it's like a sense of hearing, or a radar. Many have also proposed that Polypterids are in fact weakly electric fish, and indeed their heads are covered in electro-receptive pores. These are especially visible in Ropefish. Their lateral line system and electro-receptors is probably what enables them to effictively pinpoint and hunt fast fish. After all their sense of smell is, ultimately, dependant on the flow of water, and it would be almost impossible for them to hunt moving prey by using their noses alone.

Well said