• We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo

Worm pic, very clear :eek:

CDM;1962783; said:
Yeah, it's hard for me to distinguish both too. A friend of mine who is studying bichir in a research team of collage confirmed that's simentiensis. Currently, I accept it, though he maybe wrong. :screwy:
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i see. well i accept it too :D
i wish i could study bichirs too, so i can get grant money to go to africa for research ;) hehe...
 
As tragic as the subject matter is, there is something truly fascinating and awe inspiring about photos that capture what the eye alone cannot.


A tip to polypterus owners who have no experience with these worms, try viewing your polypterus in front of a dark spot of the tank (a shadow, a black background, etc...) and focus on the outline of the bichir.

If you see a fuzzy or hairy appearance, your bichirs have contracted a Macrodactylus infection.


Does anyone feel it would be a bad idea to pro actively treat all new polypterus in a Q-tank with anti parasite meds?
 
i think CDM's bichir recovered? (based on what i saw in his album), so i'm glad it isn't too tragic.

Cohazard;1962943; said:
Does anyone feel it would be a bad idea to pro actively treat all new polypterus in a Q-tank with anti parasite meds?
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i treat new arrivals for two weeks using jungle parasite clear (one treatment lasts a week, 2 treatments). i know the fish has already been treated prior to me buying it, but i still do it just for peace of mind. Also to catch anything internal, since parasite clear supposedly can work for that too.
 
Yes, fortunately they all recovered without any trace except that stripes "melted" endlicheri need sometimes to regain its nice contrast. Btw, there's a stage when all bichirs were more active than average, and all bichirs cruised around. I thought they were happy until they started rubbing their body on gravels or with pect fins, I then realized there was something wrong.
 
Good luck man. But damn, what camera did you use for this??

EDIT: I see your post now. I'm glad they made it :D
 
Infblue;1962745; said:
i'm glad you asked, i was under the impression that Macrogyrodactylus polypteri is specific to polypterids, but since i wasn't sure, i decided to do a little search, and it turns out there are now 9 described species, and 1 still undescribed. Some of the species were named based on the type host they were found on. e.g. M. polypteri, or M. clarii.

it seems they are host specific. e.g. i didn't see anything saying M. polypteri was found on clarias/heterobranchus catfish, or M. clarii on polypterus. but then again i wasn't look too hard.

Also there are now three species found on Polypterus, with M. polypteri the most common i presume and the earliest known, and M. simentiensis the newly described, and another yet undescribed.

btw CDM, what made you think yours were M. simentiensis and not M. polypteri? i honestly have no clue which is which :D
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Aha! Thanks for clearing that up, cheers.
 
The camera is Canon 40D. I would rather not see those worms on my bichirs body than catch good pics of them. :LOL:
 
CDM;1965405; said:
The camera is Canon 40D. I would rather not see those worms on my bichirs body than catch good pics of them. :LOL:
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:ROFL: Least we all learned something from your misfortune!
 
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