worms

[fishbert]

I found a small white worm in a dish of eggs collected from a tank of zebrafish. Yes that sounds strange. I work in a lab, and I was using a microscope. The worm was about the size of an egg (> 1mm). I'm worried that the fish are infected- any idea what kind of treatment is best? These are important fish, in case that affects any advice you may have (conservative vs. aggressive) . Any other symptoms I should look for? Thanks.

 

[Fruitbat]

fishbert...

You don't say if whether the tank has a substrate or if it is a bare-bottom research tank. Upon microscopic examination of the worms...were they round or flattened in cross-section? If they're round then you're PROBABLY dealing with a nematode of one type or another. Most nematodes found in aquaria are free-living and are not a threat to your fish. If the worm was flat in cross section then you may be looking at some sort of planarian, though the size (I'm assuming you meant <1mm instead of >1mm) would mitigate against a planarian because they're usually bigger than that.

Can you give us any more details regarding the environment and the physical appearance of the worm itself?

 

[fishbert]

The worm seemed to be more flat than round. At low magnification, it seemed almost featureless- more clear than white. You're right, I meant <1 mm, but I didn't measure it- it might have been 1-2 mm. The tanks are bare-bottom research tanks, no substrate. They are part of a re-circulating system with about 50 tanks interconnected. All water flows past UV bulbs, and through carbon and particle filters. The fact that I found it among the eggs made me think it may have come from inside a female fish. What size would you expect for a parasitic worm? Thanks for the advice.

 

[Allivymar]

While my parasite egg information is pretty limited LOL you might be able to find some info here: http://nematode.unl.edu/ . Its sorta THE nematode webpage.