Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 May 2009
The oxygen consumption of the intertidal teleost Blennius pholis L. has been investigated during and subsequent to quinaldine anaesthesia, using a continuous flow apparatus. Marked reductions in oxygen consumption were noted in high concentrations of quinaldine (10 and 20 ppm), and both entry into anaesthesia and recovery from it were rapid. A period of enhanced oxygen consumption followed anaesthesia, except in the lowest concentration of quinaldine (1 ppm). Experiments conducted over a 4 h period with three different salinities (100%, 30% and 10 % sea water) indicated that, under the influence of 10 and 20 ppm quinaldine solutions, the fish more resembled an osmoconformer than an osmoregulator. During anaesthesia, water was lost osmotically in 100% sea water, and gained in the more dilute salinities, although it was possible that some osmotic regulation continued. Physiological measurements indicated that quinaldine is suitable for the capture and marking of fish; for surgical procedures it should be mixed with another anaesthetic, for example MS-222, due to the retention of a response to vibratory stimuli.