Popeyes

Popeye Disease

The inclusion of this disease in this section is arbitrary. Popeye disease is a common ailment which is symptomatic of several different types of illness.

The bacterial infection which manifests itself in the popeye (eyes of the infected fish bulge from their sockets) is caused by more than a single organism. Dr. Willianmson concluded that a single bacterium alone could not very readily cause the disease. Antibiotics are of no value as a specific cure. Diseased fishes should be isolated and observed for a few weeks. Feedings of live foods, no overcrowding, and the addition of two drops of 5% methylene blue to each gallon of water is one treatment which is fairly satisfactory. There is no know specific cure.

A variation of the popeye disease, "Gas Bubble Disease," was described by Marsh and Gorman. This disease rarely hits fishes kept in captivity unless the fish are subjected to an overly aerated aquarium. If an air release is working too furiously and the water becomes supersaturated with air there is a tendency for the tissues of the fish to become saturated with nitrogen gas. The loose connective tissue around the eye of the fish is especially liable to this phenomenon. Oxygen gas is also the cause of this illness and the shipment of fishes in the old pressure-type cans, where oxygen is forced into a sealed can under pressure, often illustrates this point. Prevention is the cure for this type of malady.

Another variation of the disease is when the orbit of the eye becomes heavily infested with the larvae of certain trematode worms. Again the disease in this form is cured only by preventing the aquarium from getting so filthy that the worms are able to propagate in such large numbers.

The most common cause of popeye is probably the infection and degeneration of the liver due to a dietary deficiency. This is especially true of fishes maintained in hard water. In this form the fish usually has bulging eyes and a bulging belly from an accumulation of serous fluid in the body cavity. Sometimes one reads of curing fish by tapping this fluid from the body. This is rarely of any value. If the cause of the disease is dietary, the only cure is to add enough cod liver meal to the fishes' diet to offset the dietary shortage.