Minimally invasive surgical techniques in bony fish (osteichthyes).

Rigid laparoscopic surgery can be performed on bony fish. It is expected that laparoscopy will become a standard technique in veterinary medicine and will provide the zoo and aquarium clinician with a greater variety of diagnostic and therapeutic options. Laparoscopy has been found to be a very effective technique to directly visualize visceral organs and collect tissue samples. Although fish have significantly different anatomy as compared with terrestrial animals, the same laparoscopic principles can be applied successfully to this large and varied group of animals.