Camallanus

ca-mal-lanus

Disclaimer:

You may not always see the worms sticking out of the anus.

•

•Symptoms

-sometimes red worms sticking out the anus

-weight loss despite normal eating

-lethargy

-sometimes clear, stringy feces

-abdominal bloating

-flashing (quickly rubbing against things)

Basic info

Treatment:

Main tank

-Very contagious, most likely all your fish have it. -larvae free floats in water

Illness:

Parasite

Infects:

Fresh/salt vertebrates

Cause:

•

•Stress/poor water


Poor water quality can lead to stress. Stress in general, causes a weak immune system that allows things to attack.

•

•Infected fish/plants


Infected fish are a common way to introduce Camallanus. Especially if they are sourced from a poorly kept farm or the wild.

•

•Infected environment


The secondary host of Camallanus are small aquatic organisms. These, or larvae could be in the water.

•

•Infected live food

Live food can sometimes hold camallanus larvae.

Cure:

.

Blue texts are

product links!


•

•Levamisole


luh-VAM-ih-sohl

Medications:

Levamisole is usually used against roundworms (which camallanus are) It paralyzes and sometimes harms the worms, allowing your fish to excrete them.

•

•Other medications

There are other parasitic medications that are rumored to work, but I can’t find any that are reputable for being safe for fish.

Some of them include fenbenazole and Praziquantel. Please medicate with caution if you choose this route.

Deep dive

Illness:

parasitic nematodes (round worms)

Family:

Camallanidae

The most common species in an aquarium is Camallanus cotti

These parasites are aerobic. Meaning they need oxygen to survive. It’s especially crucial while they’re in the water waiting for intermediate host.

Life cycle

•Adult females will live inside of the fishes intestines mate with males and release larvae sometimes through the feces to free float in the water. That’s why you will see them sticking out of the anus.


•This allows the larvae to be eaten by their intermediate host (small aquatic organisms, e.g daphnia, copepods, etc)

Here they molt twice.


• The fish eats the infected organism, causing the larvae to be free in their intestines, where they dig into the intestinal wall where they wait to mature.

Here they molt an additional two more times bringing them to adulthood.



Anatomy

The worm will use the Buccal* capsule to hold themselves in place inside the host.

The pharynx works as a muscular pumping organ that helps feed on the blood/tissue of the host.

⬆️

Human pharynx

for reference

Medications

•

• word bank*

Buccal = mouth

Agonist = substance or drug that binds to a specific receptor

Receptor protein = specialized protein that plays a huge rule in cell communication

•

• Levamisole


luh-VAM-ih-sohl

*uh-see-tuhl-KOH-leen

Acetylcholine

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors also called nAChRs are a receptor protein*, found embedded in the membrane of mainly brain and muscle cells in most organisms.

The nAChRs will bind with the chemical your body makes called acetylcholine (ACh) which is a neurotransmitter.

Levamisole acts as a nAChRs agonist* for nematodes, meaning levamisole mimics acetylcholine. It binds to the worms aNChRs This disrupts the signal transmission.

This causes sustained depolarization, meaning the cell becomes less negative, and remains that way meaning it can’t rest, making it unable to function. Imagine a doorbell that’s pressed and stuck that way, it can’t ring again until it’s back to normal. leading to muscle spasms and paralysis of the parasite.

The job of the nAChRs is to allow the flow of ions, such as sodium, potassium, and calcium in and out of the cell passed membrane when activated. They also convert chemical signals to electrical signals, when this tampered with your neurons are no longer able to communicate. This is crucial for maintaining a functioning organism.

Unlike humans and others like us, nematodes lack a detoxification system such as your liver, they also lack the necessary enzymes to break levamisole down. This leads to a buildup and permanent damage to the worms immune system.

The reason this doesn’t happen to the fish is because the camallanus have a subtype of aAChRs that is highly sensitive to levamisole


Overall levamisole breaks down the worms vital systems paralyzing and sometimes killing them, allowing your animals to excrete them.


Fun fact:

The nAChRs also respond to nicotine! Nicotine is also an Agonist just like levamisole.