A few months ago, I was at a koi sale and saw this guy swimming around a tub. What do you think happened to this fish? It may have been a previous injury that never healed properly. Possibly this fish has had this defect since birth. Being the curious veterinarian I am, we took him
Sorry it’s been so long fish fans! After battling illness and new paddling sports, it’s time to get back to the fish. This post is dedicated to one of my patients who is indeed, a fan-tailed goldfish! These are another variety of “fancy” goldfish, like our Oranda a few weeks ago. Fan-tailed goldfish are distinguished
The Banggai Cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni), also known as the Kaudern’s Cardinalfish, is a member of the cardinalfish family and one of the few tropical fish that are successfully bred in captivity. This is important because some tropical fish species are found only on their home reefs. Removing these individuals can harm the ecosystem by removing important pieces of the
Don’t stick your hand in that tank, it’s a piranha! AAAAAAAHHHHHHH! Just kidding! Although he may try to nibble at your hand if you stick it in his mouth, the red-bellied pacu (Piaractus brachypomus) is just a relative of the piranha. They do look very similar, however, and both live in the Amazon. These have
Killifish come in a wide variety and are essentially all egg-laying fish of the order Cyprinodontiformes. There are over 1000 different species, divided bewteen wild and captive populations. Wild populations are known for surviving in very extreme conditions, and may even survive some periods of drying out! In our area of California, the Bay Area
This week, in honor of last Saturday’s surgery, we are tackling one of the fancy goldfish members, the oranda! If you have ever been in a pet store, you have seen the oranda. Basically, take a normal goldfish, add a giant jelly-bubble helmet and presto, an oranda. This bubble mass around its head is called
Alright, you ready to test your fish knowledge? We’re going to start with an easy one. If you have never watched Finding Nemo, you need to go watch it before continuing. Then test your knowledge on the types of fishes in Finding Nemo. Grab your kids, significant other, friends, and/or neighbors and watch it. If
This week’s fish of the week is one of the fishes’ aquatic cousins: Aquatic Turtles Today is my father’s birthday, and he requested that we learn about turtles! This is a short introduction to turtle-keeping and is by no means a comprehensive guide. If you are considering adding a turtle to your family, look into purchasing a
Greetings fellow fish friends! If you are in the Santa Clara or Monterey/Santa Cruz counties, you should come check out one of your local koi club meetings this week! Guests are greatly encouraged to join. For the Santa Clara club, the meeting will be Tuesday, August 20, at 7:30pm at the Willow Glen Public Library in
Happy Shark Week folks! If you haven’t been stalking the Discovery Channel, it’s time to start! Lots of fun shark-facts for you to discover. This week, we’re going to look at a popular shark in home aquariums, the chain catshark. Due to its smaller size, chain catshark can be a potential addition to a large
So, instead of learning about a new fish species this week, I thought we’d take a short detour into one of the procedures us fish vets have to do from time to time. Fish, like all other animals, can get tumors, and koi in particular are susceptible to gonadal tumors in their abdomens. When this
Hello fish folks! We’re back after a fun fintastic time at the annual American Veterinary Medical Association Convention in Chicago, IL. Had a great time visiting the local zoo and aquarium, not to mention all the fish talks and finally meeting some of the head fish veterinarians in the country. Dr. Jessie has joined the
Lobsters are what we’re learning about today! Sorry there are no pictures at this time; the website is not cooperating. Be sure to look up all the crazy colored lobsters after reading. Enjoy! Although not common in aquariums other than the ones at the grocery store, lobsters are starting to become more involved in the
Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) Coming up in a few weeks is the annual American Association of Veterinary Medicine conference in Chicago, IL. Lots of aquatics lectures are in the schedule, so we’ll have a series of updates post-conference. In honor of Illinois, this week’s fish is the state fish of Illinois, the bluegill. Bluegill are a
Hello fish fans! Sorry to have missed last week. Even vets get to take a vacation every once in awhile. Got to do a great radio show yesterday on 1080 KSCO PetPourri hour. Hopefully, we will be able to give you more advance notice next time! I am also getting ready to attend the AVMA