Anchor worm

What is anchor worm?

Anchor worm is a parasite that affects the fish by burying into its body and feeding off it. This elongated crustacean carries two distinctive egg sacs at its exposed body’s rear end, while the medusa-like head is buried into the muscle tissue of the prey fish. 

How do you treat anchor worm?

The adult anchor worms may be removed from the affected fish by means of using a pair of tweezers to firmly grip the exposed body of the worm, as close as possible to the point of entry into the fish, then slowly and carefully teasing the entire animal out. If the head is not sufficiently loosened to enable it to be removed along with the body, it will break off and remain in the fish. However, having removed the attached adult, there are still the numerous juveniles free-swimming in the pool or aquarium left to deal with. As with any attacking parasite, keep a watch for subsequent secondary infections, or introduce a prophylactic cure to prevent such an occurrence taking place.

If you’ve identified this disease on your fish, please call us and we will be happy to talk through treatments with you.