SUBJECT: Anesthetizing fish with MS222
DATE: 4/96
Has anyone used MS222 (3-aminobenzoic acid ethyl ester) to anesthetize fish?
I recall using a weak solution for a physio lab as a grad student, but I
cannot remember (or find) a concentration. Also, any special tips on
getting it into solution?
Thanks very much-
Kate Toner
toner@bucknell.edu
Kate - I have used MS222 in a 20% solution to anesthetize worms. It
does go into solution, but very slowly (in water) with a lot of
stirring. I found that it looses potency quickly - I could not use
the same container two consecutive days. We eventually stopped using
MS222, moving to glycerol (I think - it has been a long time). Hope
that helps!
Kate Flickinger
ISU
Lab Coordinator - Zoology and Genetics
I don't know what formal conc. to use but some years ago I peppered
ms222 on the surface of a small amount of water to anesthetize Xenopus,
stirred gently, waited, and if still active, repeated the protocol until
the tadpoles were inactive, studied them, then after a few minutes
transferred them to water without ms222.
Hope this helps until a more precise answer is available.
cheers
rrs@bradley.bradley.edu
Robert Rhea Stephens
Biology Department
Bradley University
Peoria, IL 61625
I found the following info in A LABORATORY COMPANION FOR GENERAL AND
COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY, 2nd ed, by Hoar and Hickman:
"There is a very wide latitude in the permissible dosage and recommended
amounts vary from 1:5,000 to 1:20,000. In practice, a solution of about
1:10,000 is usually found satisfactory; animals are placed in the solution
until the desired level of narcosis is attained and then removed to their
natural water for injection or operation. The sustaining dose for prolonged
anesthesia (added to the water flowing over the gills) should be much more
dilute (1:45,000). Solutions of MS-222 gradually lose their activity but
a
10% solution will remain fully active if stored in a brown bottle for up
to
three days. Solutions in sea water will become toxic if exposed to light."
Hope this helps. Good luck.
George
George Edick
RPI - Dept. Biology
Troy, NY 12180
edickg@rpi.edu
I leafed through my file on anesthetics and found a methods paper on the
use of MS222 (generally referred to as tricaine methanesulfonate and now
available from Ayerst under the tradename Finquel). It gives all the
information you need:
Ohr, E.A. 1976. Tricaine methanesulfonate--I. pH and its effects on
anesthetic potency. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 54C:13-17.
The gist: for goldfish start with 0.01% TMS in distilled water. The
spontaneous pH of this solution will be about 3.7. Titrate this solution
with NaOH to a pH of 7-8. Neutralizing the solution induces a quicker,
longer-lasting and less stressful anesthesia. You should titrate only the
final solution, not stocks if you make them up, because the MS222 will tend
to precipitate out. If you intend to anesthetize saltwater fish, note
that the buffering effects of seawater are much greater, resulting in a
spontaneous pH of much closer to neutral when MS222 is added; thus less
pH
adjustment will be needed.
Induction time at this concentration should be around 5 minutes for a 2-5
g
goldfish. Once the fish is returned to freshwater, recovery time should
be
around 4 minutes.
One last note from me, not the paper: MS222 is carcinogenic, so wear gloves.
Sara Hiebert
Biology Department
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore, PA 19081
610-328-8053
Hello Kate,
We have at our facility an Aquaculture unit and therefore regularly have
to anaesthetise fish. We have stayed away from using MS-222 because of its
carcinogenic nature although it is widely used in industry. We have used
both 2-phenoxyethanol and tertiary amyl alcohol to anaethetise fish:
2-phenoxyethanol has a narrower range of tolerance than tertiary amyl
alcohol so we now use the latter almost exclusively. We use a 1% solution
and find it works beautifully for goldfish, brook trout, charr & salmon.
It can be obtained from any chemical company (e.g. Sigma); the only
downside is that it is becoming somewhat expensive. If you need further
information please contact me at: Y7GX@UNB.CA
Best of Luck!
Evelyn Stillwell
c/o
Biology Department
University of New Brunswick
Fredericton, N.B.
Canada E3B 6E1
A URL for msds sheets is gopher://atlas.chem.utah.edu/11%2FMSDS
Unfortunately, it does not list ms222. What is the chemical's full name?
Sincerely,
Roger Christianson 503-488-0223 (home)
Department of Biology 503-552-6747 (office)
Southern Oregon State College 503-552-6415 (fax)
1250 Siskiyou Boulevard rchristi@wpo.sosc.osshe.edu
Ashland, OR 97520
The chemical's full name is tricaine methanesulfonate.
Sara Hiebert
Biology Department
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore, PA 19081
610-328-8053
MS222 is a brand name. Other generic names are 3 aminobenzoic acid
ethyl ester; ethyl m-aminobenzoate; tricaine.
Ed Gruberg