Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

What the heck causes something like this!?!?!?!?

It looks like something tried to rip it's head off by the gill.

Is this caused by some sort of parasite? Or disease? Or is it just a ???????? I don't know........

Pictures are of a living fish by the way but I will be putting it out of it's misery here momentarily.

Pump?

nope, those fingerlings can't get within a foot of the pump intake, they are in a cage. Even if they were not in the cage, I don't think any of them are small enough to get close to the pump intake anyway (and any that did, wouldn't swim away at all.)

Now if they were not in a cage, I would suspect that one of the larger catfish had got him but then again, I wouldn't expect him to still be alive then either.

I've wondered if there was violence going on between the catfish but this doesn't really look like bites or punctures from barbs as far as I can tell.

By the way, my very first fish fatality was because it got sucked against the pump intake. That pump was strong enough to suck bones right out of that fish. EEK

Sigh, I fear that whatever got this fish is the same disease that seems to be affecting many of my catfish but I though it was getting better since I salted.

Definately an attack of some kind - an animal cant get to the tank?

Got any birds hanging around. Some of my large silvers had white marks from birds trying to pick them up when they were in the dam.
Other than that is there any where in your tank that it could of got its head into. Then thrashing around to get lose could of cut it. Even PVC can be sharp.

I did have the cover propped part way open part of the day yesterday and today but we have not seen many big birds around that could or would try for a fish that large and there is really no good perch to fish from there. And the cover was at such an angle that a large bird would have trouble maneuvering under it. I'm not saying that it could not have happened but if it did, I'm really sorry I missed the show.

I doubt one of the hawks would have tried since they can't see into the tank from above and there isn't a very good flight path in and out. Have not seen any cranes or the other normal water birds.

Lots of animals go after fish, depending on where you live and the size of the victimized fish- it could have been raccoons, ferrets, otters, fish eating birds- waterfowl (already mentioned), cats, dogs, snakes, attack from another catfish, bear, hawks and eagles, and I'm probably leaving some out.
Or it could have gotten caught on something and caused the damage. Either way, you need to find out or the likelyhood of it happening again is extremely high.

The lid to the tank is locked down at night so I expect I would have seen damage to the netting from a raccoon or other large animal like that getting in/out of the tank.

I'm keeping my eyes open for creatures that might go after the catfish like that and I'll be leaving the lid all the way down when I'm not hanging out right by the tank.

These catfish are really scardy cats so I expect that any animal managing to grab one enough to damage it like that, got very wet unless it was using the fishing net. They don't hang out at the surface, even when feeding they tend to dash up for some food and then swim back down.

No 2 legged animals in the area.

Is it a single bite? when my catfish fight they generally inflict a flurry of small bites, they literally go at it like a couple of pitbulls. After the fight they are covered in red weal marks, almost rash like, it doesnt look like your fish has any of those so i dont think its another catfish. I did read somewhere that catfish intuitively know where to inflict a lethal bite on another catfish, which is somewhere behind the head.
A bird would probably have left a second wound or mark on the opposite side like a pair of shears might. I hope you get to the bottom of it soon.

I'm still fearing that it is some sort of wasting flesh rotting disease since the area right around the injury looks a little like some of the other fish that were not doing so well that we already pulled out.

I have not been seeing any red bite marks on the fish (as far as I can tell) and this one was a larger of the group in the cage.

Main damage that can easily be seen is a bunch of them have barbs that look like the have been stripped of their fin. This is part of what makes me think of fin rot or something.

That is torn flesh. I can assure you that if there is any disease, it is a secondary infection. Believe me, after raising exotic species of tropical fish for so long, I can tell. Besides a disease would spread, no be localized.

I agree with Angie, Raccoons love seafood and don't mind swimming for it. They will even fetch mussels and oysters out of the shallows. Not loosing anything out of the compost piles? That smell of food may have drawn one in. Not sure how heavy the cover is, but those little suckers have hands!