Unknown Neurological Wrasse Disease (UNWD)

purple_jeep · Sep 14, 2023

I am wondering if the Pintail Wrasse I just got has this issue? He seems to be swimming in a spiral, he was upside down a lot at the LFS and they said he had a lot of personality. He is in a 10G QT tank atm but this does not seem promising to me...

Jay Hemdal · Sep 14, 2023

purple_jeep said:
I am wondering if the Pintail Wrasse I just got has this issue? He seems to be swimming in a spiral, he was upside down a lot at the LFS and they said he had a lot of personality. He is in a 10G QT tank atm but this does not seem promising to me...

It could be, but in this case, the fish could also be moribund (dying) from some other issue. The key diagnostic is if it still tries to eat then it has UNWD. If it ignores all food, then it is moribund.

Either way, this fish isn’t going to survive, sorry.

Jay

Xanthurum · Sep 15, 2023

Curious if you know where you got your pintail from @purple_jeep. It would be very interesting if you got yours from the same wholesaler that I got mine from. Do you know where he was sourced?

purple_jeep · Sep 28, 2023

Sorry I missed your post xanthurum, I got it from my LFS not sure where they got them from.

So he is still alive, not spinning as much but still swimming oddly, like upside down at times etc. Does not respond to food but I assume he is eating. He has been in just observation QT since I got him I guess I should start Copper Power.

Xanthurum · Sep 28, 2023

That’s impressive that he is still alive, mine was gone within a few days of first seeing the symptoms. Neither of the other 2 wrasses I got at the same time and were in the same tank have had any issues.

Dweezilz · Nov 12, 2023

Hi @Jay Hemdal, I wanted to see what you think about my 3rd attempt with a wrasse. My first was a McCosker's which you helped me with in January which ending up being put down due to extreme UNWD. My second is my Adorned Wrasse who is doing great although having aggression issues with my new Longfin Fairy Wrasse I put in on Friday. I'm regretting not using my acclimation box. The new guy looked ok at first although seemed a bit curved up swimming gingerly near the back bottom of the tank. He soon hid but a day later upon coming out of hiding, immediately went up to the right corner and looked exactly like what I feared he might and seemed to show signs of the UNWD. Swimming vertical in slow circles pointing up but sort of coming out of it randomly. He ate voraciously though and pursued food quickly. His tail fin is extended but long fins aren't. The adorned was constantly attacking him if he swam too far into the tank. The Adorned was actually patrolling looking for him! I thought they were supposed to be the most peaceful of the Halichoeres!

Today the Fairy Wrasse actually looks better but still not normal I don't think. The Adorned seems a bit more tolerant of him but still poking at the fairy wrasse if he swims to far.

Let me know if this video looks suspicious of UNWD or if he's maybe just scared or slightly injured.

Jay Hemdal · Nov 12, 2023

Dweezilz said:
Hi @Jay Hemdal, I wanted to see what you think about my 3rd attempt with a wrasse. My first was a McCosker's which you helped me with in January which ending up being put down due to extreme UNWD. My second is my Adorned Wrasse who is doing great although having aggression issues with my new Longfin Fairy Wrasse I put in on Friday. I'm regretting not using my acclimation box. The new guy looked ok at first although seemed a bit curved up swimming gingerly near the back bottom of the tank. He soon hid but a day later upon coming out of hiding, immediately went up to the right corner and looked exactly like what I feared he might and seemed to show signs of the UNWD. Swimming vertical in slow circles pointing up but sort of coming out of it randomly. He ate voraciously though and pursued food quickly. His tail fin is extended but long fins aren't. The adorned was constantly attacking him if he swam too far into the tank. The Adorned was actually patrolling looking for him! I thought they were supposed to be the most peaceful of the Halichoeres!

Today the Fairy Wrasse actually looks better but still not normal I don't think. The Adorned seems a bit more tolerant of him but still poking at the fairy wrasse if he swims to far.

Let me know if this video looks suspicious of UNWD or if he's maybe just scared or slightly injured.

Visual diagnosis can be tough, but I don’t see classic signs of UNWD here - but the fish’s caudal fin is a bit damaged from the other wrasse, so you want to ensure that doesn’t get any worse.

Jay

Dweezilz · Nov 12, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
Visual diagnosis can be tough, but I don’t see classic signs of UNWD here - but the fish’s caudal fin is a bit damaged from the other wrasse, so you want to ensure that doesn’t get any worse.

Jay

Since the Adorned seems to be calming down a bit today would you say monitor the situation or should I try to make a trap and get the Fairy Wrasse in the acclamation box? I don't want to cause him more stress though with the trap.

Which is his caudal fin by the way?

Jay Hemdal · Nov 12, 2023

Dweezilz said:
Since the Adorned seems to be calming down a bit today would you say monitor the situation or should I try to make a trap and get the Fairy Wrasse in the acclamation box? I don't want to cause him more stress though with the trap.

I agree, that would stress it more. I always try to isolate the aggressor whenever possible, not the aggresee

Jay

Dweezilz · Nov 12, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
I agree, that would stress it more. I always try to isolate the aggressor whenever possible, not the aggresee

Jay

So try to catch the Adorned now or wait to see if he continues to calm down? He's gonna be difficult to catch mixed in with the others closely.

Jay Hemdal · Nov 12, 2023

Dweezilz said:
So try to catch the Adorned now or wait to see if he continues to calm down? He's gonna be difficult to catch mixed in with the others closely.

Right, if you can’t catch the wrasse easily, or if it is too large/active for the isolation box, then moving it won’t work. I would just watch them closely the rest of the day and then they will stop fighting once the lights are out.
Jay

aSaltyKlown · Nov 30, 2023

UNWD? I'm pretty sure I know the answer and would like confirmation. @Jay Hemdal
If confirmed, should I try to remove it and put it in a QT or euthanize? It has never acted like this before and I just noticed when I got home from work about 20 minutes ago.

Jay Hemdal · Dec 1, 2023

aSaltyKlown said:
UNWD? I'm pretty sure I know the answer and would like confirmation. @Jay Hemdal
If confirmed, should I try to remove it and put it in a QT or euthanize? It has never acted like this before and I just noticed when I got home from work about 20 minutes ago.

That isn't a classic case, and that species of wrasse doesn't get UNWD often.

Two things in the video - it looks like it has some stuck feces, I wonder if the fish is darting forward to try and get rid of it? Also, is there some damage to the fish's mouth? Maybe it ran into something? UNWD is often said to be a result of a wrasse hitting something hard, but there is never any mouth damage. If there is mouth damage, then that is more likely a cause.

No need to quarantine it. I wouldn't euthanize it based solely on how it looks in that video - at least see if it still eats.

Jay

aSaltyKlown · Dec 1, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
That isn't a classic case, and that species of wrasse doesn't get UNWD often.

Two things in the video - it looks like it has some stuck feces, I wonder if the fish is darting forward to try and get rid of it? Also, is there some damage to the fish's mouth? Maybe it ran into something? UNWD is often said to be a result of a wrasse hitting something hard, but there is never any mouth damage. If there is mouth damage, then that is more likely a cause.

No need to quarantine it. I wouldn't euthanize it based solely on how it looks in that video - at least see if it still eats.

Jay

Thank you, I will continue to monitor. I wasn't able to get a good look this morning, but it did seem to be swimming better.

cdnco2004 · Dec 1, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
Unknown Neurological Wrasse disease (UNWD)

There is a disease that afflicts newly acquired wrasses, usually Cirrhilabrus fairy wrasses or flasher wrasses, Pseudocheilinus, but occasionally other species as well. The gross visual symptoms are always the same; the fish shows a rapid onset of neurological symptoms where it either cannot swim well, swims tail down or swims with a bent spine. The other key symptom is that despite this, these wrasses will still attempt to feed. Most aquarists attribute the symptoms to some sort of an injury, such as running into the side of the tank. The trouble with that diagnosis is that these fish do not show external damage (bumped snouts, etc.) that would be expected from such an injury. Other hypothesis include barotrauma from deep water collection, or the use of cyanide to collect these fish. The trouble with these possible causes is that symptoms in other types of fish are known, and are different; emaciation in cyanide collection and swim bladder issues in cases of barotrauma. Mycobacterium has also been implicated, but that issue is more often present in long term captive fish, not newly acquired ones as in these instances.

Eventually, the affected fish becomes weaker and either needs to be euthanized, or dies spontaneously. To date, there is no known cure and the mortality rate seems to be 100%. All that can be said is that it is an unknown peripheral neurological disease. It does not seem to be highly contagious from wrasse to wrasse. The causative agent is possibly viral, but could also be nerve damage from nematodes or from microsporidians. Since the fish still tries to feed, it is unlikely the brain is affected, more likely only the spinal column or muscle nerves.

I recognized my first case of this syndrome in a Carpenter's wrasse in 2018. In 2020, I began noticing a trend of similar cases in other people's aquariums. It is unclear if this issue is newly developing, or had just gone unnoticed prior to this time.

After reading this, I can say I have lost one wrasse to this. I got a bonded pair of Purple Scale Fairy Wrasse Cirrhilabrus lyukyuensis from LFS. Had them for a few weeks and noticed the male was swimming tail down with bent spine looking. These were my first 2 fairy wrasse I was still very new to SW fish. I was not sure if how he was swimming was normal or not, the female was not swimming like that. He still ate regularly then it progressed to obvious swim bladder issues so I put him down. I still have his mate in one of my tanks. "HE" now is doing fine.

saltcats · Dec 12, 2023

Apologies if this has been addressed already - I am considering adding a flasher wrasse to my tank. I already have a possum wrasse, which I know is not one of the species that seems to be prone to this; is there any indication so far that whatever is causing it in the flasher/fairy wrasses could be transmitted to another wrasse type?
Thanks!

Jay Hemdal · Dec 12, 2023

saltcats said:
Apologies if this has been addressed already - I am considering adding a flasher wrasse to my tank. I already have a possum wrasse, which I know is not one of the species that seems to be prone to this; is there any indication so far that whatever is causing it in the flasher/fairy wrasses could be transmitted to another wrasse type?
Thanks!

I’ve not seen it transfer to other genera of wrasses. Even within the same genus, it doesn’t seem to be really contagious. Guess vary, but in any given group of affected wrasses, maybe 5 to 15% develop this issue, and almost always soon after importation.

Jay