Invader Xan
Fish Crazy
I've heard crustacean keepers talk before about how keeping a crab in the wrong conditions results in a condition termed "creeping death". I'm sure lots of people have heard of it -- the animal becomes inactive, stops eating, starts to drop limbs and eventually dies.
I don't know about anyone else, but to me, this sounds like a process I've heard about called phenoptosis.
Phenoptosis is the gradual programmed breakdown of an entire living organism. Essentially, when subjected to certain conditions, the creature simply degenerates and dies. This happens in a range of organisms from yeasts to marsupial mice, though apparently, the mechanism is in place in several species of fish. A particular example is salmon immediately after spawning.
Does anyone know of any other aquarium animals that degenerate in such a way? If so, this process could be involved.
Any thoughts?
I don't know about anyone else, but to me, this sounds like a process I've heard about called phenoptosis.
Phenoptosis is the gradual programmed breakdown of an entire living organism. Essentially, when subjected to certain conditions, the creature simply degenerates and dies. This happens in a range of organisms from yeasts to marsupial mice, though apparently, the mechanism is in place in several species of fish. A particular example is salmon immediately after spawning.
"Robert Sapolsky" said:If you catch salmon right after they spawn... you find they have huge adrenal glands, peptic ulcers and kidney lesions, their immune systems have collapsed... [and they] have stupendously high glucocortocoid concentrations in their bloodstreams. When salmon spawn, regulation of their glucocortocoid secretion breaks down... But is the glucocorticoid excess really responsible for their death? Yup. Take a salmon right after spawning, remove its adrenals, and it will live for a year afterward.
Does anyone know of any other aquarium animals that degenerate in such a way? If so, this process could be involved.
Any thoughts?