Since the mid 1980's Glassfish of the family Chandidae that have been injected with fluorescent dye have been imported into Australia from South East Asia. These fish have been painted by injection along the dorsal and ventral body surfaces and are sold as "Painted Angels". In 1998 I became concerned when I noticed several fish species appear on the Australian market that had been injected with dye or paint. It was common knowledge that these fish have progressive problems. The painted areas fade and break up and the fish become less clear or glass like. The fish become thin and debilitated, and tend to become lethargic and easy to catch. They frequently develop multiple proliferative skin lesions and have a reputation in the industry for 'not living very long', in contrast to the unpainted Chandas which usually remain healthy. I set myself the challenge of documenting what was wrong with the "Painted Angels". Histopathological investigation of Painted Angels and normal Chandas by Dr John Humphrey and Dr Malcolm Lancaster of the Victorian Institute of Animal Science (VIAS) revealed lesions that included microgranulomas in the kidney, severe hepatocellular vacuolar change and degeneration. See images below.

In some cases the kidney tissue was almost completely replaced by microgranulomas, fibrosis and inflammatory cells. These lesions were not detected in the normal Chandas and appear to be associated with the presence of fluorescent dye. The proliferative skin lesions were caused by Lymphocystis Virus and showed the characteristic severe cytomegally. These viral lesions were extensive and common on the "Painted Angels" but were rare and of minor significance in the normal Chandas. This difference is probably due to immunosuppression or stress invoked by the injected paint.

This investigation proved that injecting dye or paint into fish causes severe pathological changes. This results in progressive degeneration of body tissues in the fish known as Painted Angels. Because of these findings I believe that we should not condone the act of injecting paint or dye into any fish. This is definitely an animal welfare issue and anyone dealing in or importing Painted Angels demonstrates support for this cruel practice.

By making this information known to the aquarium trade and recommending that we should not support this practice by importing paint or dye injected fish into Australia, the appearance of these fish in aquarium retail shops has dropped dramatically.

Histopathological slides were processed by Dr John Humphrey and Dr Malcolm Lancaster of the Victorian Institute of Animal Science (VIAS), Attwood, Melbourne. Please contact Dr Jim Greenwood if you would like to discuss any details with regards to the slides.

Dr Jim Greenwood B.V.Sc.
Canterbury Veterinary Clinic
182-184 Canterbury Rd.
Canterbury, Victoria, 3126
Australia
Ph: 03 9836 6009