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everal methods of euthanasia have been historically used with fishes, including exposure to cold ice water for an extended period of time (~5 minutes). However, the most common means of euthanasia involves use of a commercial anesthetic called MS-222 (3-Aminobenzoic Acid Ethyl Ester Methanesulfonate salt, also called ethyl m-aminoboenzoate; C9H11NO2-CH4SO3; Sigma Cat # A-5040 or equivalent). A 0.4% stock solution is typically made in tris-buffered water as follows: MS-222 stock solution (0.4%, 100 ml)
Adjust pH to 7.0. Store this solution in a dark container. Some individuals freeze this stock solution, while others keep it at room temperature. Regardless of storage parameters, tricaine can get old and lose potency. MS-222 working solution (0.02%, 100 ml) 5 ml MS-222 stock solution
Euthansia of fish Fish can be euthanized by over-anesthetizing a fish in the working solution (100 ml of 0.02%anesthetic (MS-222; Note: if numerous fish need to be euthanized, one can utilize a 0.06% solution). A fish is typically placed into a dedicated anesthetic container. The swimming movements of the fish will slow down gradually (approximately 30 seconds, depending on the size of the animal). It will lose its ability to stay upright in the water and keel over on its side or totally lie on the bottom upside down. The mouth and gill arches will still be moving, albeit very slowly. It will take ~10 minutes for the fish to become fully over-anesthetized, at which point it should be removed and disposed of properly. Proper notes regarding age, phenotypic information etc. must be recorded at this time. Contributed by Steven Kazianis. Download printable PDF (Acrobat 4.0) version of this page. |
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