What's in his mouth

[alcina]

We have several of these big cod on a dive site and most have these huge bumps on the bottom lip...any ideas?

 

[Diver0001]

We have several of these big cod on a dive site and most have these huge bumps on the bottom lip...any ideas?

Scarring from catch and release fishing?

R..

 

[archman]

Arnold Scharzennegger: "It's not a tumor!"

 

[MoonWrasse]

A breathmint?

 

[Sideband]

Chewing tobacco? Just a pinch between gill and gums..

Joe

 

[Scubakevdm]

Herpes simplex twelve.

 

[alcina]

Gee, thanks, Guys

It was actually a serious type question as this is fairly recent and the big cod on the other sites don't show this...

 

[Charlie99]

Herpes simplex twelve.

That's pretty close to what your turtles have according to the Turtle Hospital in Marathon, Florida. They suspect that the fibropapilloma disease that is causing warts on turtles is caused by a virus related to herpes.

Haven't heard of anything like that in cod, though.

 

[MoonWrasse]

Aside from the humor, divers do notice things long before scientists do. For example the story aired just recently about octopuses walking on 2 legs, which from what I hear divers have seen for a while already.

You may have discovered something, perhaps it's gender specific, seasonal, site specific, local mutation, injury induced, etc.

 

[archman]

Oh fine, serious answers. Boo!

If it's bigger fish only, specific to a local site, than a biomagnified toxin or disease could be doing it. Probably shouldn't be eating those fishes. Epidermal papillomas are reported from various fish species, and for some it's been linked to herpes virus. Yay, herpes!

Epidermal papillomatosis is a skin disease characterized
by white, smooth, ovoid tumors on the skin, fins
and lips of fishes.

http://www.int-res.com/articles/dao2004/60/d060p189.pdf

Some fish neoplasms.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diseases_neoplasms.php