DENVER — A fancy-looking French angelfish that was found one day with a funny float has its buoyancy back after taking some time from its tropical trappings to get a CT scan at the Denver Zoo.<\/p>\n
A zoo worker recently noticed the blue and yellow fish was swimming with a tilt, prompting a visit last week to the facility’s on-site hospital for an ultrasound and the CT scan.<\/p>\n
The CT scan took place in a machine large enough to fit a 700-pound (318-kilogram) grizzly bear, so some special accommodations were required, zoo spokesperson Jake Kubie said. The approximately seven-inch (18-centimeter) fish was sedated, balanced upright on a sponge and had water poured over its gills to keep it alive as the scan took place.<\/p>\n
The diagnosis: Too much gas. Enteritis, or inflamed intestines, had resulted in increased internal gas that was affecting the fish’s buoyancy, Kubie said.<\/p>\n
“It was treated with antibiotics,” he said. “It’s doing much better and swimming normally.”<\/p>\n