Vitamin E deficiency in goldfish fed a shellfish derived diet

Six month old, laboratory-raised goldfish (Carassius auratus) used in morphologic studies of retinal development developed progressive fraying and deterioration of the tail and fins that reached epizootic proportions and culminated in fungal infection and death. Diagnostic histopathology showed marked skeletal muscle degeneration in the muscles of the tail and caudal body wall compatible with a vitamin E/selenium deficiency. Ration analysis demonstrated inadequate vitamin E in the commercial shrimp-based diets fed to the goldfish fry. Replacement of shrimp-derived diets by a commercial trout diet containing adequate levels of vitamin E was curative.