Hyperbaric therapy may be best known as a treatment for the bends, which occurs when divers surface too fast, causing nitrogen bubbles to form in their blood and tissues. Turns out, it can be used to treat fish, too.
Aquarium fish often develop gas bubble disease, named for the bubbles that form in their tissues and wreak havoc on their ability to swim upright. Historically, it’s been a tough disease to treat. But recently, veterinarians at the University of Florida, who were assessing a seahorse with the condition, used hyperbaric therapy. They placed the animal in a water-filled container within an oxygen-rich chamber, increasing the air pressure over three hours. The gas bubbles were resorbed, leaving the seahorse upright and content.
Hyperbaric therapy has also been used in some fish collected on deep-water dives.