[FuzzyCrawdad]

I got three crayfish today and they've all got these worms that like to stay around their heads and in the crater of their eyes. I find conflicting articles saying they're harmless just ugly, or a nuisance. They move like inch worms or otherwise just anchor themselves down and wave around.

Also, will these worms infect my fish and other crayfish if I put these in my big tank?

 

[Raymond S.]

Parasites typically just do one type of host. A fish parasite seldom will also infest
crawfish for example. But the other crawfish...

 

[FuzzyCrawdad]

So I should keep them quarantined.

I have them in the tank I got them in (ridiculously small, 2.5g), I plan on putting them in my 10 to treat them once all the methylene blue is out, but... I don't know how to treat them? I'd rather not use chemicals because paraguard is the only crusty-safe med I have but I'm very low. What can I do - other than waiting for them to molt and getting them out immediately after - to get rid of these things? I'd like to put at least the male in the same tank as my crayfish, but I don't want to get her infected.

 

[WaterLife]

From the description of the worms being between the eye (on the rostrum?), it sounds like Scutariella japonica. Shrimp can be infested with them for awhile before any major life threatening, but it's best to rid them of those parasites as soon as you can. Usually a simple a quick salt dip will clear away Scutariella. If that doesn't work after a couple or so tries, you can use Hikari PraziPro which is a pretty gentle anti-parasitic med.

Though Scutariella usually just wiggles it's "tail" end. From the description of moving around like an inchworm, that sounds like leeches. Look each up online and see what looks like yours. Scutariella is most often found on the rostrum and is not contagious to fish. Leeches though, can latch in other areas, more deadly and I believe can latch onto fish.

http://www.shrimpcorner.co.uk/blog/post/18-common-freshwater-shrimp-disease-treatments
http://shrimpkeepersforum.com/forum/topic/5052-shrimp-diseases-and-diagnosis/

 

[FuzzyCrawdad]

They're on the rostrum, down around the base of the eye, and after looking at them with a good flashlight, absolutely everywhere. Some are long, some are short. They move like... when someone does handsprings. Head, tail, head, tail, flipping over. Otherwise they're just waving around.

They're not leeches, I know leeches. They look kind of like scutariella but... not quite. I'll see if I can get some pictures in the morning.

I'll try a salt bath, anyway. A little salt bath isn't going to cause harm to the crayfish. What's a good salt concentration? I've heard anywhere between 2 and 7 teaspoons per gallon whenever I go searching.