Epidemic of skin lesions reported in reef fish

The lesions are unusual, however, prompting outside experts to question the diagnosis of cancer




Black bands on fins and face of this coral trout constitute weird lesions darkened by excessive amounts of abnormal, pigmented cells.


A British-Australian research team has just found coral trout living on the south side of the Great Barrier Reef sporting dark skin lesions. Fifteen percent of the affected populations at two sites bore brown-black growths, some of them raised and almost scablike. The authors conclude that they’ve stumbled onto an epidemic of melanoma — a type of skin cancer — in iconic and commercially important fish.

Epidemic Of Skin Lesions Reported In Reef Fish - Science News_