Use of eugenol for anesthesia of lesser guitarfish Zapteryx brevirostris (Rhinobatidae).

Abstract

Anesthesia can be utilized as a non-lethal procedure to allow easy handling of teleosts and elasmobranchs in captivity or in the wild. For this, anesthetic protocols need to be established according to the species. The aim of this study was to determine the ideal concentration of eugenol for anesthesia of Zapteryx brevirostris. Four concentrations were tested: 21.25, 42.50, 85.00 and 170.00 mg L-1 (ratio of 1:5 with absolute ethanol). The perfect concentration of eugenol for this species was 85.0 mg L-1 , which enabled up to 300 seconds of work on the fish, without any response to handling.