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Hello All,

I just noticed something on one of my adult male Pandas. Just behind his 'facial' black strip and just below his eye is a white growth. It looks like something a cross between a pimple but a bit higher. His behavior is fine and he doesn't seem to be affected by it. Any idea what it might be and if it's a big concern or not? None of the other eight Pandas has this.

This isn't ick, it's too big. The tank prameters are very good. The hank has been very healthy for a long time. When I look closer it looks like a white 'skin tag' of about 1 to 1.5 cm in length.


Thanks

Eric

Got a pic of this?

Only several thoughts are crossing my mind, but without a pic, I can't be specific. This is one of those occasions when appearances matter a LOT for dagnostic purposes.

However, if you can get a closer look, tell me if there are any unusual features about this growth. Only the moment I hear about things like this, the antennae start twitching ...


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I can't post photos. Can you send me a private email address and I'll send them to you. My address is eminer1254@yahoo.com

Thanks very much,

Eric

You have mail. Will await the pic in the post.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Just sent back the Email reply.

For everyone else, here's my initial verdict.

That strange feature on your Panda could be a teratoma. For those who look at that word and think "oh no it's cancer", allow me to reassure you. A teratoma is actually a benign tumour, but one with some very unusual features. Under normal circumstances, the vertebrate body possesses a complex biochemical mechanism for making sure that tissues are organised and differentiated properly, so that, for example, cells destined to be liver cells end up in the liver and not in the brain, and vice versa. A teratoma occurs when the mechanism fails for some reason, and the result is a growth (usually external) in which the cells are a disorganised mish-mash of all kinds of different tissue types growing together - so you could have liver, brain, muscle, gill and reproductive cells all growing together in a teratoma. A teratoma (unless it is a gross abnormality that hinders locomotion, for example) will not usually shorten the life of the fish, though in the case of this particular Panda Cory, will provide an annoying 'blind spot' in its vision.

This is, incidentally, the first time I've seen a Panda Cory (or any Cory for that matter) display a feature that could be a teratoma.

Of course, to diagnose this conclusively would require a biopsy to be performed, followed by a histological slide prep for a microscope involving some fairly intricate staining to enhance the tissue differentiation. Even then, ti would probably require a trained professional alerted to the possibility of a teratoma to home in on this, as teratomas are exceedingly rare phenomena. I only encountered them myself because way back in 1975, TFH magazine covered them in guppies, complete with photographs. If memory serves, Warren Burgess and Dr Mark P. Dulin worked on that article.

So, looks as though your Panda could be a veterinary first!


Last edited by Calilasseia at 08-Dec-2005 17:13

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Interestinly, after about five days the 'growth' vanished/ I can't even tell where it was....there's no scar at all

Thanks

Eric

In that case it defintely WASN'T a teratoma. Teratomas don't vanish.

Hmm, bit of a mystery there. Perhaps it was a temporary abrasion, though I've never seen abrasions look white before.

Plus, that white appendage looked too big to be a white spot cyst to me. In any case, if white spot was an isue, you'd have more than one cyst on your fish, and it would be appearing on the other fishes too.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002