Handling and manipulation of fish, requires, almost without exception,
sedation or anaesthesia due to integument fragility and health as well as welfare
considerations.
Integument adaptations to fish immersed life such as thin epidermis covered with a
protective layer of mucous, intradermic scales and slender hypodermis must be
protected during physical manipulations. Also, as sentient animals, fish must be spared
the eventual pain and stress caused by husbandry, research and veterinary procedures.
Fish anaesthesia and surgery have become common procedures in ornamental fish
industry, public aquaria and research, and in the case of anaesthesia and aquaculture.
Surgery is one of the reasons to anesthetize fish as these animals can undergo a variety
of surgical procedures, from simple cutaneous interventions to more sophisticated
intracoelomic and even cardiac or hepatic surgeries.
Keywords: Analgesia, Anaesthesia, Anaesthesia monitoring, Fish, Fish surgery
techniques, Sedation.
