I thought that I had gotten out of this thread when the getting was good. However, some of these postings show a complete lack of knowledge in basic biology and I can not stand to see ignorance spread.

I posted on here, some time ago, the accepted ways to euthanize a fish. These methods came from a textbook on fish anatomy. The only important thing to do is not make the fish suffer any more pain than necessary. Suffer pain? Yes people, fish can feel pain. I am not even going to try to give a lesson in basic fish anatomy, since at the minimum, you should have learned this stuff in your High School biology course work.

So, let us think about the behaviours that you can observe in your own tank. If fish could not feel pain they could not establish territories and raise young. Mr. cichlid would charge in and eat any eggs he wanted completely oblivious to the parents defense since he could not feel the parents biting him. Ever see a fish try to scratch him(her)self? Of course you have not because the fish can not feel the pain caused by the parasites. Ever have to remove an anchor worm? The fish just lays still because he can not feel you pulling the parasite out. All higher lifeforms, fish included, are quite aware of pain. It is mother natures way of saying, "Hey! That is not in the best interest of your survival". Otherwise fish would have been extinct a long time ago.