Can you identify this disease? (Spotted moray)

[rockjock3]

Sadly it looks like a different eel (if you can identify eels by pattern). There are many differences I can spot around the notrils and face (away from the growths). Sad either way.

 

[Charlie99]

I have read/watched something about a herpes-like growth that was affecting turtles. I wonder if this is a similar virus.

That was my first impression too. Maybe something similar to the fibropapilloma tumors present on many turtles in Maui.

 

[JahJahwarrior]

Heck, I just showed these pics to two other biologists, and all three of us horrified.

Where exactly did you horrify? And is that a new euphamism for throwing up?
\


"Dude, I totally just horrified in your sink.....sorry man, I'll clean it up later" ??

 

[JahJahwarrior]

who has the god given right to kill any animal in our beautiful oceans and seas . NOBODY ...... if the eel is showing signs of unnatural behaviour it could be removed for tests to a lab .

the beauty of nature is watching . this is why and how on the safari's people studing animals have to stand back and let nature do it thing .

respect for all animals . no matter what they look like

1. Who says we don't have the right to kill animals? Who says we do? Personally, I would say that humans are "above" animals, while humans are mammals, there is something special about us, we are "better" than them. I would also argue that we have the right to kill them, raise them, give them medical treatment or confine them, we have the righ to do what we deem best. However, I don't think we have the right to mercilessly slaughter every animal. Moderation. We don't cut down every tree, similarly, we shouldn't kill what we don't have to. In the case of an animal that has a disease that is ruining it's life and that might be allowed to spread if the animal lives, I think it is permissable to kill the animal. I'd rather not, if it's avoidable, I think this animal should be removed and studied to find out what is wrong with it, and if possible, treat it!

2. The beauty of nature is watching lions chase down gazelles and rip open their warm bodies to devour the meat, then watching as other animals, like jackals, sneak up and take away a hunk or two for their own litter. Even animals kill animals from time to time. This animal seems to have lost of it's defensve mechanisms: it might not be able to see, and it might not be able to bite very well. The humane thing here might be to remove the animal for testing. Of course, the humane thing for the predators is to let them have an easy meal.

3. And yes I do have respect for all animals, which is why I tried tos ay that while I think we have the right to kill or breed, medicate or not, confine or not, we need to not be cruel to the animals unless it's necessary. It might be considered cruel to give a horse a suppository. Do you like having giant pills shoved up your behind? But maybe the animal needs it. In this case, the animal might need to be treated in a way that's not very comfy, but that would help it. And in some cases, we need to kill animals to eat them. But I am very much with you on the respect, we need to respect animals like we respect nature or other people's property.

 

[The Mighty Thor]

I have read/watched something about a herpes-like growth that was affecting turtles. I wonder if this is a similar virus.

Sometime this happens when you stick your eel in foreign crevices.

 

[archman]

I'm not kidding. Wouldn't capture be a more appropriate solution (if possible)

You can *try* catching it, assuming somebody wants it. If a scientist wants it, it's going to be killed and either pickled or frozen for later study. My old lab has half a freezer full of morays. :11:

If there's no interest in examining the growths or the animal itself, putting it down is warranted on both ethical and ecological grounds.

Ethical because that animal has some serious hurt going on. If that critter was in one of my research tanks, the animal safety board would require from me a pretty solid scientific excuse not to euthanize. Having the animal in the wild does not make its suffering go away, nor exempt it from corrective action. That "Law of the Wild" guff may be popular with the National Geographic crowd, but people that actually have to manage wildlife regularly put down crippled or suffering animals. I've done it many a time myself. No, it does not irrevocably alter the "Natural Balance".

Ecological due to the potential for infecting other animals with whatever this animal's got. If a fungal infection, you're looking at a major inoculant source. If a genetic neoplasm and the eel is still fertile, it's a threat to future spotted moray populations. If a virus-induced neoplasm, leaving the animal in the wild leaves at least one known viral source out there, as well. As epithelial neoplasms are obviously NOT commonly found on morays, there is no ecological foul called for removing the eel. Quite the contrary, in all likelihood.

In either case (neoplasm or fungus), leaving the eel alone permits the growths to enlarge, meaning there's more of whatever it is for other organisms to ingest or otherwise come into contact with.

When sea turtles with serious neoplasms are identified, they're commonly brought in and treated. We don't leave them in the wild if we have the resources to do otherwise. If the Endangered Species Act didn't require a mountain of filed paperwork to do so, many turtle rehab facilities would be euthanizing "too far gone" specimens rather than letting them linger for years in little plastic tubs. I've talked and worked with enough turtle people to verify that. I've spent many long hours caring for tumor-coated sea turtles... it's not an uplifting job.

It doesn't take a marine biologist to see that this eel is "too far gone". Or maybe it does. In any event, it is my professional opinion that this animal should either be removed from the wild, or dispatched within the near term. The only valid excuse for not doing otherwise is a lack of appropriate resources for either.

 

[CheddarChick]

Archman, absolutely......

 

[Hank49]

I]".

Ecological due to the potential for infecting other animals with whatever this animal's got. If a fungal infection, you're looking at a major inoculant source. If a genetic neoplasm and the eel is still fertile, it's a threat to future spotted moray populations. If a virus-induced neoplasm, leaving the animal in the wild leaves at least one known viral source out there, as well. As epithelial neoplasms are obviously NOT commonly found on morays, there is no ecological foul called for removing the eel. Quite the contrary, in all likelihood.

In either case (neoplasm or fungus), leaving the eel alone permits the growths to enlarge, meaning there's more of whatever it is for other organisms to ingest or otherwise come into contact with.

.

That all sounds logical....but, put it this way....if in fact this is a new, devastating disease that's going to wipe out the spotted eel population, I know you understand the futility of removing even 100 or 1000 of them from the wild, if you can find them, and hoping that you've eliminated the problem. Leaving the eel or killing it won't affect the eel populations or health of, in the least. If that's a serious disease, they're in trouble, if not, he'll just go by the wayside and be a memory....the weird eel.
If this were an isolated herd of...buffalo, or goats on an island that you can see and monitor... maybe...but eels in the sea? good luck.

 

[stevewirl]

jah jah . we raise animals in farms and ranchs for food their purpose in life is food . we cut down our rain forests in search of progress . we house and rear zoo animals if they are in pain we have looked after them all their lifes and the humain thing to do is to put them down . i had an old dog and had to do this .

but the wild is different and sould be treated different . it is survival of the fitess and when man interviens this is where all threw history that nature has suffered .

im not a tree hugger im far from it but our oceans sould be left for everyone to see the freak eel . it may be the only 1 of its kind .

 

[SCUBAJENNIFER]

im not a tree hugger im far from it but our oceans sould be left for everyone to see the freak eel . it may be the only 1 of its kind .