sick moray..........fish stuck in throat?

[d0ch0liday]

i think this eel is a purple mouth moray not a 100% on the identification..... but he is a friend of mines eel and he has a strange malady. well here is the story the people that own this eel recieved him in good health and was very lively. so figuring he was hungry they threw in some pinfish.....the eel ate one and began to act funny.....he acts as if he his choking.....well there is a lump under his gill slits as if there is a fish stuck there......but if it was a fish why would he not just regergitate it or can he.... i am not sure. well it might not even be that at all i am not sure for i have not seen this perticular sickness before.... so i come and ask every one elses opinion on it.......excluding water quality and temp what else could this be.... i have included some really terrible pictures.... i appolagize the only camera we had was a shotty cellphone.......well i hope some one can give some insight......thanks :cheer:

 

[00nothing]

wow no advice but hope he pulls thru, hopefully DME will be on and will have some sort of suggestion he had forgotten more about eels than most of us will ever know

 

[squidd]

Don't know if they can regurgatate or not ...probably depends on which directions the fish's fins are pointing...
But the whole upside down and laid out straight don't look good...

 

[crox]

IMO it looks like he's dying. But I'm not an expert on eels.

 

[d0ch0liday]

i know it looks bad.....but this eels a fighter.....most are you know

 

[dme]

Sure none you ever seen that before, I wonder Doc on you know of a city aquarium or a doctor of fish for there a very few of them for from what you are sating, and if it is true that a fish is stuck in its throat. The fish is stuck long before the eels gills in which it needs to take in water to past through its gill in order to take in oxygen.
I am sorry, I cannot tell anything much with those photos other then your explanation of your eels possible problem and if what you say is true, someone needs to go in there and pull out that fish, I have to assume that it is an odd shape of food in which can make this happen.
If I can see A closer pic of the throat from mouth, i hopefully can see it better and im sorry to have to say this but eels in general are very hardy animals and would suffer much more then fish themselves.

 

[dme]

D0cH0liday, I see that you live in Tampa Fla. If you could me your number I would call you.

 

[unleashed]

I wasnt sure exactly what a pinfish was so, I did some research to find out. pinfish is normally used as a bait fish.very sharp pilike dorsal fin (hense the name pinfish).im thinking a number of possabilties and causes of this eels problem.obviously this isnt a fish he went out and purchased at a LFS as food more along the lines of a bait shop or caught himself.what makes the species of fish perfect as a bait fish could be the cause of this eels delema.this fish could be concidered the perfect hook( in a manner of speeking)
options
#1 fish stick in throat due to sharp spines in the fins
#2 cuts in the eels throat due to spines of the fins(throat now enflamed)
#3 paresites from the pinfish infected the eels gills
#4 combination of 2-3
#5 bacterial infection caused by 1-2
if hes normally fed this type of fish it could have been a long term effect just now showing up
question is:is this eel still breathing? gasping for air? doc send me an email lyndog13@aol.com when you get back online I have a phone number for you to call maybe they can be of some assistance

 

[dme]

unleashed, We need to learn how long a go from what your saying if it could be for D0cH0liday. when was the last time you feed this to your eel and this blockage was it there right after you feed the last time? It is difficult to talk and get messages across to the point, for if as so that it be the fish is trap in the eels throat, one needs to get in there to remove it for it is difficult to tell as I said from those pics :notsure: and only answered to the explanation you giving on your eels situation.
Now D0cH0liday, I will ask you of somethings in which to help better clear up what is the eels problem.
1. Was the eel showing signs of a possible problem before now? For which if it is an infection, it wouldn't had over taking your eel at such speed.
2. If you realized your eel had a blockage after its last feeding?
3. How was the eel the days before today in its activities and behavior.
Im sorry to have to say this, but eels when possible death is near not hide in the LR as they normally do, they come into the full open.
I need as better detail you can offer here on how this came about. Sorry

 

[d0ch0liday]

sorry it took so long to respond...but the eel is not mine it is a friends and i know as much as i have said ill try to answer your questions though dme. from my understanding dme the eel was in excellent shape untill it ate the pin fish...there are also punctures where the lump is under his gill hole....after physically touching the lump my guess is it is the pinfish....now i am not saying i am right, but after narrowing it down that was my assumption....and unleashed i have heard the same things about pin fish......thats why i thought this could be the problem......i was thinking i should try and pull it out......but i did not 1 want to end up hurting the eel even more and if i were to kill it i do want to be blamed 2. i wanted to make sure it was the right think to do.....ill email my friend to see if i can get some better pics....sorry dme i knew you would be pissed about the shoddy photos but hey all i had was a camera phone ......well heres my email dme and unleashed......simieonrice97@yahoo.com so if you need to email me about anything you find out or need to cantact me......
well thanks for the help guys if theres any questions i missed please let me know and i will answer them

 

[aw2]

Hey DOc...just my .2 cents, and you probably have already thought of this...
If the pinfish has lodged in the throat and there are punctures where it is lodged, check to see which direction the pinfish is facing.
If it's head in, you dont want to pull it...like you said...since it would only damage the Moray more.
I was thinking that you could push the pinfish farther into the throat and try to dislodge or cut off the fin of the pinfish. You could try pushing it down far enough for the Moray to swallow it, but I'd be worried about the same thing happening to it's stomach, with that sharp dorsal fin that the pinfish has.
The Moray looks far enough gone that it wouldnt put up much of a fight to be held and prodded...I'm sure it wouldnt cause any more stress than what it's already experiancing.
EDIT: I just called a friend from Shedd Aquarium, in Chicago. She suggested pushing the pinfish farther into the throat and trying to cut off it's dorsal and pectoral fins, then pulling it out of the throat. Hope this helps...good luck. It's gonna be a PITA, but definately worth it, for such a beautiful species.

 

[dme]

No problem for you know the eel is still laying on its back? For what you said now tells me that it is quite possible that your friend either feed the eel this fish by its tail section first in I not believe I have to tell you of the results in that.
Pinfish can be a problem and i wish that poeople never try to go cheep in cost to feed their eels. For is there any way you can get a very up close clear photo of this area?
Im not piss about the quality of the pic, I just cant tell much in what im looking at but I can tell of a small bulge at its neck near the head.
unleashed, had emailed you on some doctors you can get in touch with for the eel for which I still say that the fish needs to be removed by hand and as soon as possible and if I was there, I would do this.
i was thinking i should try and pull it out......
Use a tweezers and hold the tips closed while going into the eels throat until you know that you had reached the area of this trapped fish
If the eel is laying upside down all this time, things are moving for the worst, you need to try for what little I can tell of the pic, it is trap in between its head and gill in which is taking in no oxygen if any.

 

[dme]

And try to tell if you can catch it head to pull it out head first, it would be much better if you could manage this.

 

[d0ch0liday]

on keeping the morays jaw open dme what do u suggest........oh and as far as the moray is doing right now i have no clue it is apollo beach and i am in tampaso it about a 30 min drive the best i can do is checkin in the morning....what does every one thing sbout pushing it in like aw2 suggested?its going to be difficult to cut the dorsal fin inside the eel......

 

[dme]

If the trap fish is where I seem to believe it is from those photos I still say its best to pull it out if you can and if it is right near the gill area, then I agree to try and name to do what was suggested from shedd. And you want to cause the least further damage you can in doing so.

 

[dme]

Hold the eel on each side of its jaw with limited pressure and hold firmly too and hold in position and see if your friend can hold a light pointing into the eels mouth on if you see the fish, then you have to pull it out and head first if at all possible and if the trap fish is where it be impossible, you need to try and do the suggestion shedds offered you.
Either way young man, being that it be your first, it will be tough on you but you must hold study and think only in what you must do.
Good Luck And god bless

 

[d0ch0liday]

alright thanks for all the help and ill keep evryone posted and ill try to get better pics of the eel when i "hopefully" fix him :hilarious

 

[dme]

All you can do is the best you can and please not be so nervous for look at it as if it was a small child that the only way to save that child was to cut the throat to open an air way.

 

[dme]

Say Doc, the eel from the pic, its looks so lifeless, the chances in this I have to say is slim for if you do manage in either way removing the fish either out or into its stomach its changes as of now is 50/50 and if you not do what you need to do in removing the trap fish intact. I am afraid for the worst.
But what either happens know that your friends eel is not the first and not be the last one may loose in such a way, your friend then must move on and learn from it.

 

[d0ch0liday]

oh i am not affraid....of the eel i just do not want him to slice my hand open but i have been bit b y a tessa and a green moray moultiple times whats the worst that can happen right :scared: