TRANSPORT OF FISHES 8l 



fish per unit of water upon the build-up of waste 

 products the practical increase in pounds of fish per 

 unit of water is more in the order of two to three fold. 

 He considers the most desirable stage of sedation to 

 be that at which fish fail to respond to external stimuli 

 but still retained equiHbrium. 



Fish should be treated prior to handling prepara- 

 tory to transport. This, of course, presents a problem 

 in cases where fish are to be collscted directly from 

 the wild and transferred to the transport unit. But 

 some anesthetics that are not yet completely tested 

 may be cheap enough to permit sedation of the fish 

 prior to their being collected. Sodium cyanide may 

 ojSer such a possibiHty. Of the anesthetics that he 

 tested McFarland (1960) favors chloral hydrate, 

 tertiary amyl alcohol, and methyparafynol (Dormi- 

 son). The concentrations required to produce the de- 

 sired state of sedation in the fishes McFarland used 

 were 2 ml., 1.0 to 2.0 ml., and 3.0 to 3.5 gms. per 

 gallon respectively. 



Prophylactics 



Various chemicals have been used to prevent 

 out-breaks of disease and parasites resulting from the 

 handHng and transport of fishes. The general use of 

 these various chemicals might be questioned inas- 

 much as any particular one is primarily suited to the 

 control of only one group of pathogens while crowded 

 fish may suffer epizootics from bacterial, fungal or 

 protozoan pathogens. Where repeated difficulty is en- 

 countered with a particular pathogen, prophylactic 

 treatment may be warranted. The bacteriostatic ma- 

 terial most commonly used is acriflavin neutral at a 



