Extremely unusual Ling Cod eyes!

[nwscubamom]

Yesterday at Pulali Point we spotted this Ling - looks VERY uncomfortable, doesn't it? Anybody else ever seen anything like this before? It was a first for me, at least as far as Ling Cod go. I've seen bulging eyes on several Red Irish Lords before though.





The rest of the photos from the dive can be found here:
http://nwgeogirl.smugmug.com/gallery/42 ... /246225221

- Janna

[Zen Diver]

Looks like it's trying to be a Stargazer... or maybe someone squeezed his tummy too hard?

[dwashbur]

Looks like he's doing a cartoon "wild take"!!! Did his vision seem to be okay?

[nwscubamom]

No, its vision didn't seem too good. I was able to get in for some pretty close up shots and he/she didn't even flinch or move. When we first came across it, it was startled and moved to this spot, where I was able to get in very close for the shots I took.

- Janna

[Grateful Diver]

Looks like something outta a Garfield cartoon.

Or maybe he just ascended too fast ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Penopolypants]

It looks like popeye....I've seen it on aquarium fish. It's usually caused by trauma, but if both eyes have been affected it's probably a symptom of a bacterial or fungal infection.

Sad, because it's unlikely to clear up on its own.

[Pinkpadigal]

This is what happens when you try to clear your ears and you blow too hard...

[Jan K]

That ling needs to SEE an eye specialist ! Maybe it is a sole in ling coat..

[Sounder]

All your theories are wrong (bacteria or trauma - HA! What kind of rational answer is THAT?!)... there is obviously nothing wrong with that fish.

Remember, it's mating season for them... it's CLEARLY a male, and some sweet young hot thang must have just swam by. Every guy I know has looked like that at least once... the smart ones can pull it off everytime their wife walks by!

[whatevah]

[quote="nwscubamom"]Yesterday at Pulali Point we spotted this Ling - looks VERY uncomfortable, doesn't it? Anybody else ever seen anything like this before? It was a first for me, at least as far as Ling Cod go. I've seen bulging eyes on several Red Irish Lords before though.[/quote]

It's barotrauma Janna. I've seen it mostly on rockfish. My guess is that someone angled up that Lingcod from a pretty extreme depth, then released it. The eyes pop out due to expanding gases. Doesn't often happen to Lingcod. Rockfish are far worse off of course, because they have a swim bladder (which ends up expanding to the point that it will poke right out through their mouth).

Pete

[mattwave]

It's barotrauma Janna. I've seen it mostly on rockfish. My guess is that someone angled up that Lingcod from a pretty extreme depth, then released it. The eyes pop out due to expanding gases.

Pete

I buy it.

[nwscubamom]

Interesting! I just got in a letter from Jeff Christiansen at the Seattle Aquarium that's along the lines of what you guys have already said:

Janna,

Exopthalmia like that seen in the photos can be from a number of causes. It is one of the common signs of a bacterial infection. Exopthalmia as a sign of infection can be treated in early stages but requires careful observation to catch it. Infection like this can also be a secondary condition. Rapid pressure changes in fish with swim bladders ( I know the ling doesn't have one) may result in eye damage that can progress to infection. External damage to an eye can also progress to this level of damage. Unfortunately by the time signs like this are present the animal is usually severely compromised and chances of recovery are poor.

Jeff

[Tangfish]

I squeezed that ling, really hard! (mystery solved)

[nwscubamom]

It's barotrauma Janna. I've seen it mostly on rockfish. My guess is that someone angled up that Lingcod from a pretty extreme depth, then released it. The eyes pop out due to expanding gases. Doesn't often happen to Lingcod. Rockfish are far worse off of course, because they have a swim bladder (which ends up expanding to the point that it will poke right out through their mouth).

Pete

Pete,

If Lingcod have no swim bladders, being Greenlings and all, how can they experience expanding gasses to that extreme? Rockfish yeah, that happens all the time. But have you ever seen a ling like this?

- Janna

[rjarnold]

Well the question's really already been answered, but yeah, I see that all the time when we trawl up fish from the deep. I know it also occurs as a bacterial/fungal infection, and that's what I would place my bets on for this guy.

[whatevah]

Pete,

If Lingcod have no swim bladders, being Greenlings and all, how can they experience expanding gasses to that extreme? Rockfish yeah, that happens all the time. But have you ever seen a ling like this?

- Janna :)

The only Lingcod I've seen like that had recently been exposed to spearotrauma. I have angled up a Kelp Greenling which had one eye popped out, and I've seen a sculpin or two come up in my shrimp pots with both eyes popped. Not what I'd expect, because they lack a swim bladder - but there you have it. Perhaps they were already exopthalmic due to disease. Or maybe they somehow managed to develop gas pockets (hrm - maybe that's a symptom of some disease?). FWIW, I've only ever angled perhaps six rockfish (accidental since I don't target them), and none of them were exopthalmic - two had distended stomachs (one of which was able to swim back to the depths - maybe it lived - the other was picked off by an eagle on the surface). Yelloweye seem to be affected worst by this, since they're almost always angled from hundreds of feet down - sadly there is a lot of Yelloweye bycatch when seeking Halibut.

Pete

[dwashbur]

We found a painted greenling with a similar problem at the breakwater at Monterey Bay a few days ago. As you can see, the one eye is completely gone, and the other is goggled out like your lingcod. I assumed he had an unpleasant encounter with a fish hook, since people fish off that breakwater all the time, but now I'm not so sure. This guy was completely blind; he had no idea we were there until one of us bumped him. It's a shame, because he was a good size one, probably close to a foot long.