Crayfish has worms

[katiebug]

Hey all,

I found a crayfish early yesterday morning wandering my college campus, no water in site. So I took him home and have him in a 20 gallon... all alone luckily.

I noticed today very thin worms wiggling around on his sides and tail. It is grossing me out. Should I treat? How? For what? Its all sorts of yuck.

 

[Fishfur]

Could be parasites, might just be detritus worms of some kind. Unless you plan to provide a filtered tank with stable parameters in the long term, I'd put him back in a local body of water.

He may not be well, that's possible, but there are not too many things you can use to treat crays or shrimp that's safe, and there is little point treating with anything if you don't know for sure what you are trying to treat.

He might have been wandering because he's not well, or might have been seeking a new water source because the old one was too crowded or lacked breeding opportunities.

If you do want to keep him, can you get pics of the 'worms'.. clear ones might help.

 

[katiebug]

It's so tiny that it is really hard to take a pic of at the moment. But there are lots of these worms.
Here's a video I took that shows it really well.

crayfish parasite - YouTube

 

[katiebug]

Googling, appears to be Branchiobdellida.

 

[Fishfur]

Well done finding that ! Now the issue is what do you do about them. Britannica online has an article that appears to have some good info, but wants a credit card even for a free trial subscription, so I could not read it all. Seems they have a lot of young ones at one time, 300 or so, which are laid in a cocoon of some sort. Then it cuts off.. sneaky beggars.

I'm wondering what on earth can be done about them that would not also harm the crayfish. Annelids aren't crustacean, and they're annelids way back up the family tree. I wonder if one of the dog wormers used for some other parasites might work. There are some that are crustacean safe.. though I'd have to go look to find some names of drugs, and getting them might not be easy.

I wonder if this is why he was wandering where you found him ? I'd guess if there are enough of these things, they could be life threatening, though one tidbit I read indicated they may be at least partially symbiotic, if they reproduce very quickly, as it seems they may, this guy may not last long as the only host available. I think I'd put him back in whatever body of water is available.

 

[hopper055]

I understand you got it with the worms but in a lot of places it's illegal to return an aquatic animal to the wild after its been in captivity. Because of the risk of introducing a disease, parasite or invasive species from your aquarium. So check your local and state laws before you do it. I would recommend you keep him though because there fun to watch.

 

[katiebug]

I'm schooling in vet tech medicine so I might be able to get my hands on some special meds. People seem to have mixed opinions about whether this parasite is beneficial or is troublesome. I read that a salt bath can kill the parasite, or alternatively an ice bath or putting a piece of garlic in the tank. I think I'm going to try the garlic.
I'm wary about re-releasing him because I don't want to infect some closed body of water with any sort of parasite. I've only had him a couple days, and set up the tank specifically for him, so it is unlikely that I have introduced any parasites to him.

 

[Fishman007]

I'm schooling in vet tech medicine so I might be able to get my hands on some special meds. People seem to have mixed opinions about whether this parasite is beneficial or is troublesome. I read that a salt bath can kill the parasite, or alternatively an ice bath or putting a piece of garlic in the tank. I think I'm going to try the garlic.
I'm wary about re-releasing him because I don't want to infect some closed body of water with any sort of parasite. I've only had him a couple days, and set up the tank specifically for him, so it is unlikely that I have introduced any parasites to him.

Yeah go for a SW dip

 

[hopper055]

Any update on the little guy? I'm interested to know how it worked for future reference.

 

[Autumnsky]

Fenbendozole 10% liquid if used in a particular amount is safe for inverts.

 

[katiebug]

Salt dip didn't help. scrubbing them with a toothbrush did nothing. they've reproduced like crazy. I tweezed about 5 off the other day. they are laying eggs. its getting bad.

 

[hopper055]

Salt dip didn't help. scrubbing them with a toothbrush did nothing. they've reproduced like crazy. I tweezed about 5 off the other day. they are laying eggs. its getting bad.

I read that if you move him to another tank right after a molt he will be worm free. Then you have to clean everything in the tank really good and then put him back in. The only real problem I see is catching a molt. If you don't get it right away they will just latch on to his new Exoskeleton.