We mixed both solutions of sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) and sulfuric acid(H2SO4) in sea water to try to anesthetize black porgy Acanthopagrus schlegeli.The results indicated that the anesthetic induction time was correlatedpositively with body size and negatively with the concentration of NaHCO3 andH2SO4. But only the concentration influenced the recovery time. 675 ppm NaHCO3mixed with 395 ppm H2SO4 might be suitable to anesthetize black porgy becausethe induction time and the recovery time of most of the fish were less than 6minutes at this concentration. No fish died during anesthetization and 5 daysthereafter. Thus, this technique should be effective and safe foranesthetization of black porgy.
We also examined the changes of the physiological parameters of black porgyafter anesthetization by 675 ppm NaHCO3 mixed with 395 ppm H2SO4. The values ofhematocrit, hemoglobin, plasma glucose, and total plasma protein were notsignificantly different between the anesthesia and the control groups. While theplasma chloride ion concentration decreased significantly and the osmolarityincreased significantly after anesthetization.