Adult zebrafish anaesthesia: a study of efficacy and behavioural recovery of different anaesthetics

Abstract

The use of proper anaesthesia in zebrafish research is essential to ensure fish welfare and data reliability. However, anaesthesia long-term side effects remain poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to assess anaesthesia quality and recovery in adult zebrafish using different anaesthetic protocols and to determine possible long-term effects on the fish activity and anxiety-like behaviours after anaesthesia. Mixed sex adult AB zebrafish were randomly assigned to 5 different groups (control, 175mg/L MS222, 45 mg/L clove oil, 2 mg/L etomidate and 5mg/L propofol combined with 150mg/L lidocaine) and placed in the respective anaesthetic bath. Time to lose the equilibrium, response to touch and to tail pinch stimuli, and recovery after anaesthesia administration were evaluated. In addition, after stopping anaesthesia, respiratory rate, activity and anxiety-like behaviours in the novel tank test were studied. Overall, all protocols proved to be adequate for zebrafish anaesthesia research as they showed full recovery at 1h, and only etomidate had minor effects on fish behaviour in the novel tank, a validated test for anxiety.