A club for owners of Parrot Cichlids

i posted earlier about having 3 parrot fish in a 60 gallon tank. one of my fish is always hiding and has dark smudges all over, mostly underneath his body. it almost looks like he is dirty but i really dont think so! then tonight he came out to eat and i noticed he had what looked like red strings coming out from under his gills! does anyone know what this is??? he also looks more pale then usual. he is still eating and swimming normally