Today's surgery: in association with aquarium pharmaceuticals (UK) LTD

摘要

Our resident vet, Lance Jepson, deals with Skin flukes (Gyrodactylus sp). Skin flukes are flat worms of the genus Gyrodactylus. Members of this genus are found in both fresh and salt waters. They are Monogenean worms, which means that they have a direct life cycle, that is to say that an intermediate host is not needed for completion of the life cycle to adulthood. Generally they reach up to 0.8mm in body length but I have seen some very large (several millimetres long), highly pigmented ones on African fishes such as Reed fish (Erpetoichthys calabaricus) and Fahaka puffers (Tetraodon fahaka).