Abstract:

In an effort to improve the survival rate of crayfish during long-distance transport, clove oil, MS-222 (3-aminobenzoic acid ethyl ester methanesulfonate) and ethyl ether were used alone for the anesthetic treatment of crayfish, and clove oil was the selected anesthetic agent for the studies carried out subsequently, in which, the effect of varying clove oil concentrations (10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320 mg/L) on the oxygen consumption and survival rate of crayfish was examined. Crayfish was anesthetized within 10 min post-treatment of clove oil at 20－80 mg/L and the survival rate was more than 96%. The optimal clove oil concentration for keeping crayfish alive during storage at 25－30 ℃ was 60 mg/L, resulting in an increase by 9% in survival rate when compared with post-20 h storage unanesthetized crayfish.

Key words: crayfish, clove oil, anesthesia, survival improvement, MS-222