the control group at 45.5% (SE, 10.

the control group at 45.5% (SE, 10.8) was significantly higher
than mortality in all anesthetics treatments (P < 0.05) except
clove oil at 10 mg/L.
DISCUSSION
Our research showed that total ammonia and un-ionized
ammonia concentrations increased during simulated transport
and pH and DO decreased. Similar results have been observed
in other species, including the southern platyfish Xiphophorus
maculatus, and Indian tiger barb Puntius filamentosus (Amend
et al. 1982; Guo et al. 1995; Pramod et al. 2010). As fish respire,
they consume oxygen consume and accumulate waste products.
Fish excrete carbon dioxide and consume DO through respiration,
which decreases water acidity and DO(Harmon 2009). The
major pathways for ammonia production are transamination and
deamination of adenylates in fish muscle and gill tissue (Randall
and Wright 1987). Un-ionized ammonia and ionized ammonia
are at a dynamic equilibrium in water. Un-ionized ammonia
content increases when pH, temperature, and ionized ammonia
concentration increase (Emerson et al. 1975). Water temperature
was constant and pH decreased during the experiment. Therefore,
the increase in un-ionized ammonia we observed in the
control group was due to sharp increases of total ammonia.
None of the anesthetics significantly improved water quality
parameters during the 6–12-h period. However, all levels of
anesthetic treatments benefited water quality during the 12–24h
period, though MS-222 and clove oil had different mechanisms
and different impacts on water variables. The MS-222