Primorsky Aquarium fish pathologists have been the first in Russia to carry out an operation on the spotted porcupinefish Diodon hystrix. They had to make a difficult decision and to stop an abscess in the fish by performing surgery.
A tumor over the eye of one of the porcupinefish from the underwater tunnel of the Coral Reef exhibit was reported by members of the Tropical Marine Organisms Department. As Maria Popova, Chief Fish Pathologist, said, when the tumor was found, they immediately transferred the fish to the Science and Acclimation Building for observation. Vets saw that the animal was languid and could not take food because of the abscess in its mouth.
“As we were unable to obtain biopsy and identify the type of inflammation, we agreed to cut the abscess open and drain it,” told us Maria Popova. “It was a tough choice, because no one had ever done such operations on tropical fish in Russia before and we did not find any information about the case in medical literature.
We’ve performed two surgeries overall. During the first one, we cut open the skin abscess over the upper lip and during the second one, we opened the abscess in the mouth. After the incisions, we drained pus and dead tissue from both cavities.”
The Primorsky Aquarium’s vets emphasized that the sedatives used to immobilize the porcupine fish were plant-derived and thus harmless for animals, their vital organs and nervous system. Moreover, the fish was not just half asleep during the surgery, but also given a local anesthetic to make the operation painless.
“We left the incisions open. It is a general protocol in abscess treatment not to suture the wound so the remaining pus could continue to drain and the wound would repair itself,” added Oksana Bannova, Fish Pathology Department vet tech. “As the surgery had been performed under sterile conditions, the wounds healed fast, with no complications. There weren’t any unexpected problems with the surgery itself, too, because we knew what we were doing.”
As Oksana Bannova said, now the spotted porcupine fish feels well, swims and enjoys its favorite food, mussels.