Yellow Watchman appears to have its mouth open

[chiapet]

My Yellow Watchman appears to have its mouth open all of the time...& it has been this way for the last couple of weeks.

It seems to be eating. When I feed....it darts out quickly grabs some food & hauls butt back to its cave.

If I sneak up on it at the entrance of its cave it is just sitting there with its mouth wide open.

Other than looking aukward, it seems fine & very alert.

Any thoughs on this? I have tried to do my research on this behavior with no success.

Thanks in advance!

[Laura D]

Does it look like he can't close his mouth, or that he is voluntarily holding it open like he is breathing hard?

I have known fish to get their jaws "stuck" open for various reasons, such as an injury due to fighting.

Apparently they either resolve it on their own, or they don't. Since he is eating, hopefully he will be able to get it closed

[chiapet]

I am starting to believe it was from some sort of injury. Water params are fine....checked them & checked them again.

The other night I saw it tangle with a rather large hermit crab...which I promptly removed into my tank with 2 triggers (can you say Karma?)

Thanks for the feedback.

[kovu]

I had a watchman do the same thing but his mouth wasn't stuck open 24/7. He would hold his mouth open when other fish came around his came to let them know whos boss. So maybe something is just threatening yours?? Or maybe even from injury.