A seven-inch (18-centimeter) blue and yellow French angelfish discovered one day to have a funny float got its buoyancy back after spending time in its tropical trappings.

Fancy Fish With a Funny Float

A worker at Denver Zoo in Colorado noticed that the fancy-looking fish was swimming with an unusual tilt. This prompted a visit to the zoo's on-site hospital to test the animal for an ultrasound and a CT scan.

According to zoo spokesperson Jake Kubie, the machine where the CT scan took place was large enough to fit a 700-pound (318-kilogram) grizzly bear. Because of this, some special kind of accommodations were required. After sedating the fish, it was balanced upright on a sponge and poured with water over its gills to keep it alive while the scan was taking place.

The results of the laboratory tests reveal that the French angelfish had too much gas. As Kubie reported, enteritis or inflamed intestines resulted from increased internal gas, which affected the fish's buoyancy. The animal was treated with antibiotics and is now doing much better and is swimming usually.

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Intestine Inflammation in Fish

Enteritis is generally referred to as the inflammation of the intestine. In humans, this can be caused by infections brought by viruses, bacteria, or parasites. It can also be induced by exogenous agents like medication, drug abuse, and radiation or due to inflammatory conditions such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease. Previous studies have revealed that enteric parasites like Cryptosporidium parvum and Giardia duodenalis play a significant role in developing post-infectious complications and their effects on the neural control of intestinal functions.

In animal production, enteritis can cause serious economic losses, with internal parasitism being the major stress factor that leads to malnutrition, reduced performance, and reduced production efficiency.

Enteritis is a diet-related disease commonly found in farm-raised carnivorous fish, which can lead to a slower growth rate and increased fish mortality. Experts estimate that this disease costs the aquaculture industry over $1 billion annually.

The factors in most enteritis scenarios are not only due to the action of inflammatory elements but also the loss of gut integrity. Maintaining the intestinal epithelial barrier is the central role of the intestinal epithelial cells (IECs), while the intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) perform sentinel functions in keeping the mucosal barrier integrity.

Intestinal health is critical in ensuring the welfare and performance of animal production, and enteric diseases can cause failure in the gut barrier, leading to high economic losses. If there is an imbalance in the intestinal barrier structure, it can progress into an uncontrollable immune reaction in the intestinal microenvironment. It can also allow the unrestrained growth of microbiota, which can lead to other diseases.

The intestine plays different physiological functions in fish anatomy beyond food digestion and nutrient absorption. This organ is an important immunological site that protects the animal from pathogenic attacks. Parasitic infections in fish intestines not only cause direct mortalities but can also result in poor growth, lower stress resistance, higher susceptibility to pathogens, and morbidity.

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