Application of rosemary essential oil (Rosmarinus officinalis Linnaeus, 1753) for anesthesia and transport of bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis Richardson, 1845) fingerlings

Abstract

Abstract. The aim of the present research is to study the efficacy of rosemary oil as an anesthetic for bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis Richardson, 1845) and as an anesthetic used for transport of fingerlings. The fish used in the experiment have an average body weight (BW, g) of 42.13±17.90 and an average total length (TL, cm) of 16.54±2.32. Five treatments are conducted with five experimental concentrations: 0.20 ml.l-1, 0.30 ml.l-1, 0.40 ml.l-1, 0.50 ml.l-1 and 0.60 ml.l-1. For each concentration 10 fish are used or a total of 50 fish. For the transport experiment, 3 concentrations are used: 0.06 ml.l-1, 0.08 ml.l-1 and 0.10 ml.l-1. The applied stocking density is 3 fish/l. A total of 60 fish are used for each concentration or a total of 180 fish. The established results, for the first experiment, show that at concentration of 0.60 ml.l-1 the induction of anesthesia is the fastest (3.46 min). From all tested concentrations the recovery time is the shortest at the lowest concentration – 2.16 min (p≤0.001). The concentration of 0.10 ml.l-1 of rosemary oil can be used for transport of bighead carp fingerlings for a period from 1 to 2 hours. The concentration of 0.08 ml.l-1 can be applied when the duration of the transport is from 1 to 3 hours.