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How To Anesthetize an Octopus
sciencehabit writes Researchers have figured out how to anesthetize octopuses so the animals do not feel pain while being transported and handled during scientific experiments. In a study published online this month in the Journal of Aquatic Animal Health, researchers report immersing 10 specimens of the common octopus in seawater with isoflurane, an anesthetic used in humans. They gradually increased the concentration of the substance from 0.5% to 2%. The investigators found that the animals lost the ability to respond to touch and their color paled, which means that their normal motor coordination of color regulation by the brain was lost, concluding that the animals were indeed anesthetized. The octopuses then recovered from the anesthesia within 40 to 60 minutes of being immersed in fresh seawater without the anesthetic, as they were able to respond to touch again and their color was back to normal.
I for one was eager to know... :/
Give it Slashdot's Microsoft-sponsored front page to read. Even an incredibly alert cephalopod with no discernible neck will be nodding off in seconds.
No anime girls can carry isoflourane spray kits to stop tentacle rapists!
Silence is a state of mime.
I have been hunting and eating octopi in greece (plural?)
greeces. You're welcome.