Fish Surgery: Presurgical Preparation and Common Surgical Procedures

Fish surgical procedures are commonplace in aquaria, zoos, laboratory facilities, and pet clinical practice. To incorporate fish surgery into a clinical setting, an understanding of anatomic differences between mammals and fish, bath anesthetics, and recirculating anesthesia techniques must be developed; a system or different size systems to accommodate anesthesia and surgery of particular species of concern at an institution or practice constructed; and familiar mammalian surgical principles applied with some adaptations. Common surgical procedures in fish include coeliotomy for intracoelomic mass removal, reproductive procedures, gastrointestinal foreign body removal, radiotransmitter placement, and integumentary mass excision.