Bugs on my florida gar

[meBNme]

Just got an 11 inch Florida gar.
It's been in the tank now one week.

It only seems to eat live feeder fish unfortunately, but it IS eating those just fine.
I normally don't do feeders anymore, but it wouldn't eat anything so I tried some. I witnessed it eating 4, it probably had more.

About two days ago I was looking at it and it looked like one of it's scales was lifted, I looked closer, and the dang thing moved!

Upon closer inspection there seem to be at least two of these things on it.

The are so extremely well camouflaged that you can only detect them if they move or you see the raised outline of them from side view.

1) What are they?
2) Will they harm the gar?
3) Will they spread to other fish?
4) How do I get rid of them?

 

[F1 VET]

Just got an 11 inch Florida gar.
It's been in the tank now one week.

It only seems to eat live feeder fish unfortunately, but it IS eating those just fine.
I normally don't do feeders anymore, but it wouldn't eat anything so I tried some. I witnessed it eating 4, it probably had more.

About two days ago I was looking at it and it looked like one of it's scales was lifted, I looked closer, and the dang thing moved!

Upon closer inspection there seem to be at least two of these things on it.

The are so extremely well camouflaged that you can only detect them if they move or you see the raised outline of them from side view.

1) What are they?
2) Will they harm the gar?
3) Will they spread to other fish?
4) How do I get rid of them?

Likely a parasite or worm
Not good at all, will cause stress beyond belief, crank temp too 82, change 50% of water and add a tablespoon of salt per 10 gal of water, turn lites off, and on sunday repeat, aslong as waters clean and u either quarintine feeders or choose a better alternative it will likely heal in a months time. There are meds to use that may work but thats not my style. Try buying fresh raw uncooked tilapia fillets and shrimp, dethaw and throw some in on mon or tues, my Fl gar loved talapia and shrimp and its very healthy, u can even stuff pellets in it

#1 S. Vettel

 

[meBNme]

Thanks.

Yeah, I feed my indilicheri, clown knife, and leopard ctenapoma chopped fish I catch from ponds/lakes.
Ive tried live earthworms, too. The gar will only touch live fish so far.

My dang indi just ate a new 3 inch 35$ cichlid.....

 

[Oddball]

Gars may be prone to argulus infestation. This parasitic 'louse' can severely harm your fish since they feed be inserting a proboscis and sucking body fluids from your fish. If left alone, argulus wound sites can become necrotic. The fish's immunity is also affected to where it'll become prone to secondary bacterial and fungal infections. Argulus reproduce in large numbers. And, the eggs can encyst (go dormant) in adverse conditions and hatch out as much as a year later if conditions are optimal for them.
Best bet is to treat the entire tank with an antiparasitic medication. Salt may be added to the tank. While the salt will have little effect on the parasite, it will act as a mild stress reliever for the fish and reduce the possibility of fungal infections. Raising the temp will also aid in reducing secondary infections and speed the parasite's life-cycle and reduce their life span. These parasites live between 30 and 100 days and their life-span is temperature dependent.
The medication called Clout is the best product currently available in the US for treating these crustacean parasites.

 

[Oddball]

Argulus:



Argulus found on FL gar:




The particular species on your fish may look different but somewhat similar since there are over 125 identified species of Argulus. Some species are identified by leaving threads of eggs trailing from their entry points. However, not all species share this breeding adaptation.

 

[B3Master]

Amazing close up thanks for the info, what sort of camera did u use here?
Does anyone have a further pic of these to see if they are apparent on the fishes or to much for the untrained eye to see?

 

[Oddball]

2nd pic is under a microscope.