The Efficacy of MS-222 as Anesthetic Agent in Largemouth Bronze Gudgeon Coreius guichenoti

Abstract

The Largemouth Bronze Gudgeon Coreius guichenoti is a vulnerable and valuable fish in the upper Yangtze River of China. It is essential to keep it calm by using anesthetic in routine operations such as weight measurement, tag injection, and artificial spawning. This study was conducted to investigate the efficacy of different concentrations of MS-222 (tricaine methanesulfonate) as an anesthetic agent in C. guichenoti. The results showed that anesthesia time decreased significantly (P < 0.001) with increasing anesthetic concentrations. However, anesthetic concentrations had no significant effect on recovery time. In addition, anesthesia time had an obvious positive correlation with body weight. Overall, MS-222 was an effective anesthetic agent for C. guichenoti. Moreover, the optimal concentrations of MS-222 in C. guichenoti (average body weight =135.29 ± 2.23 g) were 100, 120, 160, and 180 mg/L.

Received June 27, 2016; accepted September 30, 2016 Published online December 14, 2016

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the China Three Gorges Corporation (JGJ/0242013) and Public Interest Scientific Research Fund of the Ministry of Water Resources (201501001).