Denver Zoo Angelfish Gets CT Scan After Abnormal Swimming Patterns

The Denver Zoo's resident angelfish underwent a CT scan after zookeepers noticed unusual swimming behavior.

Angelfish CT Scan

After taking some time away from its tropical surroundings to receive a CT scan at the Denver Zoo, a fancy-looking French angelfish who was discovered one day with a strange float has regained its buoyancy.

The yellow and blue fish was recently discovered to be having problems with buoyancy and swimming strangely with a tilt, according to the zoo. The facility's on-site hospital was visited last week as a result of performing an ultrasound and a CT scan.

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Some unusual arrangements were needed because the CT scan was performed in a machine big enough to hold a 700-pound grizzly bear, according to zoo spokesperson Jake Kubie. The roughly seven-inch fish was tranquilized, supported upright on a sponge, and had water pumped over its gills to maintain its life during the scan.

The Diagnosis: Enteritis

According to Kubie, increased internal gas as a result of enteritis, or inflamed intestines, was having an impact on the fish's buoyancy. In other words, the body of the angelfish had too much gas.

Carnivorous fish reared in farms frequently develop enteritis, a diet-related disease that can delay growth and increase death. The cost of this disease to the aquaculture sector is estimated to be over $1 billion annually.

According to Kubie, the fish that had antibiotic treatment was doing considerably better and was now swimming normally.

On Instagram, the zoo shared images of the peculiar CT scan.

According to the Zoo, they are delighted to provide the greatest degree of care to their animal residents, who range from the smallest tree frog to a fully-fledged grizzly bear.

Only a few weeks before this unexpected CT scan at the Denver Zoo, a 376-pound alligator that was "behaving strangely" at a zoo in Florida turned out to have an ear infection as seen in its CT scans and X-rays.

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French Angelfish

Foragers by nature, French angelfish consume a wide range of sessile invertebrates and plants, such as algae, tunicates, sponges, and soft corals, among others. Large fish, especially several predatory species, have their parasites and loose scales removed by juveniles. Typically, French angelfish forage in pairs. They almost always appear in pairs, which they establish for mating and to jointly protect a feeding zone from other fishes.

By simultaneously releasing their sperm and eggs in the water column above the reef, the males and females of this species reproduce by broadcast spawning.

With this technique, there is a greater chance that fertilized eggs will survive fertilization and that egg predators won't consume them on the coral surface. French angelfish do not assemble in huge groups to spawn, in contrast to several species that disperse their eggs. They can only procreate with a mate.

Although they are not caught for economic purposes, French angelfish is consumed by locals in some regions. The youngsters with more vibrant colors are also taken alive and put on display in both public and private aquariums. The populations of French angelfish are now thought to be unaffected by either of these actions, and experts list this species as being of least concern.