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Profiling plasma steroid hormones: a non-lethal approach for the study of skate reproductive biology and its potential use in conservation management

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Abstract

Information regarding sexual maturity and reproductive cycles in skates has largely been based on gross morphological changes within the reproductive tract. While this information has proved valuable in obtaining life history information, it also necessitates sacrificing the skates to obtain this data. In contrast, few studies have used circulating steroid hormones to establish when these batoids become reproductively capable or for the determination of reproductive cyclicity. This study summarizes our current knowledge of hormonal analyses in determining skate reproductive status and offers information that suggests analysis of circulating steroid hormone concentrations provide a means to determine size at sexual maturity and asses reproductive cycles without the need to sacrifice the skate.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Joe Jurek of the F/V Mystique Lady for all skate collections. Further thanks are extended to Scott Elzey and Suzie Biron (University of New Hampshire, Department of Zoology) for their help in processing of skates. This project was supported by a grant from the Northeast Consortium (NA16FL1324) to PCWT and JAS. This is contribution number #6 from University of New England’s Marine Science Center.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Science Center, University of New England, Biddeford, ME, 04005, USA

    James A. Sulikowski

  2. National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Mississippi Laboratories, P.O. Drawer 1207, Pascagoula, MS, 39568, USA

    William B. Driggers III & G. Walter Ingram Jr.

  3. Department of Animal and Nutritional Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 03824, USA

    Jeff Kneebone, Darren E. Ferguson & Paul C. W. Tsang

Authors
  1. James A. Sulikowski
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  2. William B. Driggers III
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  3. G. Walter Ingram Jr.
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  4. Jeff Kneebone
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  5. Darren E. Ferguson
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  6. Paul C. W. Tsang
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Correspondence to James A. Sulikowski.

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Sulikowski, J.A., Driggers, W.B., Ingram, G.W. et al. Profiling plasma steroid hormones: a non-lethal approach for the study of skate reproductive biology and its potential use in conservation management. Environ Biol Fish 80, 285–292 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-007-9257-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-007-9257-y

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