Satanoperca mouth wide open

[DaveB]

My biggest leucosticta is swimming around normally, breathing at his usual rate, fins normal, etc... but his mouth is wide open. Not as big as a yawn, but lips are definitely jutting out.

Anyone ever have this happen?

I think maybe he took a big bite of the zucchini that was in there to amuse and occupy the Uaru. If that's the case, I'm not sure if it should bother me or not.

This fish is pretty incredible, I've seen him do a little dance to free air bubbles inside him, so he's pretty resourceful. Still, I've never seen this before. First time for everything, I guess...

 

[ryansmith83]

I've had angelfish do this in the past. It's almost like a form of lock-jaw. One of my male koi angels did this constantly. Most of the time it went back to normal after a day or two, but eventually it locked in place permanently and he died after a couple of days.

It's possible that it injured its mouth trying to eat something too large, or maybe in a lip-locking fight with a tankmate. As long as it doesn't appear stressed, maybe just leave it alone and see if it corrects itself.

 

[DaveB]

Looks better today but not 100%. I think it's definitely a food thing. Probably bit a bunch of zucchini off. He still behaves normally and doesn't show any sign of distress.