Abstract
Adult coho salmon and subadult rainbow trout were used in experiments with the anesthetic ketamine hydrochloride. The drug (30 mg/kg) was injected into the dorsal aorta through an indwelling cannula. Intravascular administration of ketamine caused an immediate cessation of ventilation in both species for 10 s to 300 s and a loss of balance. Ventilation rate recovered to pre-anesthesia values within 1–2 h and arterial oxygen values were at pre-anesthesia levels by 3–24 h. Anesthesia caused a significant acidosis in both species. The blood pH and plasma CO 2 values had returned to pre-anesthesia levels by 4–24 h and 0.5-2 h, respectively. For adult salmon, five of seven animals were unresponsive to tail grabbing at 4 h while with juvenile trout, three of five fish were fully responsive to touch at 1 to 2 h. This difference in duration of anesthesia was likely size-related. The applications of this injectable anesthetic for commercial fish use, mainly in the transport of animals, are suggested, but its use with food fish has not been assessed.
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