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Differential sensitivity to capture stress assessed by blood acid–base status in five carcharhinid sharks

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Abstract

Stress from fishing capture can incite potentially lethal physiological changes in fishes. Blood acid–base status has routinely been utilized to gauge the magnitude of the stress response, which is dependent on the nature of the capture event and metabolic capacity of the species in question. The mortality induced by demersal longline capture has been shown to vary among taxonomically similar carcharhinid elasmobranchs. In this study, we aimed to: (1) quantify and compare blood acid–base disturbances associated with longline capture in five carcharhinid species; (2) examine the extent to which these disturbances correspond with reported at-vessel mortality rates; and (3) investigate how interspecific differences in the physiological stress response could relate to life history, ecology, and phylogeny. Results showed that blood acid–base disturbances from longline-capture varied between species, with relative degrees of disturbance by species proportional to previously reported at-vessel mortality rates. In addition, the degree in which metabolic and respiratory acidoses influenced relative depressions in blood pH also differed by species. The differences in blood acid–base status point to discrepancies in the aerobic and anaerobic capacities among these taxonomically similar species, and are important when considering the effects of, and possible means to mitigate deleterious consequences from, longline fishing capture.

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Notes

  1. This study was selected on the basis that pK′ and αCO2 values were presented for temperatures (10, 15, and 20ºC) corresponding with those in the present study. Additional studies on elasmobranchs present alternative experimentally derived, though slightly divergent, values for pK′ and αCO2 (e.g. Albers and Pleschka 1967; Pleschka and Wittenbrock 1971; Boutilier et al. 1984; and see Weber et al. 1983). It should be noted that the variability in these constants when comparing fish, reptiles and mammals is quite small, where if used interchangeably in the Henderson–Hasselbalch equation at a given temperature and pH, will not yield considerable differences in HCO3 −.

  2. The low end of the readable range for lactate differs on the i-STAT (0.3 mmol l−1) and Lactate Pro (0.8 mmol l−1). Thus, concluding a close correspondence in side-by-side values for this parameter between the two instruments (on control dogfish spp) assumed that i-STAT lactate values (mean value of 0.42 mmol l−1) were closely aligned with corresponding Lactate Pro values, although values of the latter read as “<0.8 mmol l−1”.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Apex Predators Program for the opportunity to collect data across multiple survey cruises. In particular, L. Natanson and N. Kohler have been instrumental in enabling and abetting our data collection efforts. We would also like to acknowledge fellow scientists, fishermen and crew aboard the R/V Pelican (1996); R/V Delaware II (1998, 2001 and 2007); and R/V Longhorn (2004). In particular, Brad Chase collected samples on several cruises and Heather Marshall collected samples on the 2007 survey cruise. Funding for this work was provided through Federal Aid in Sportfish Restoration to Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, and the New England Aquarium. This is Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries Contribution No. 23.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Edgerton Research Laboratory, New England Aquarium, Central Wharf, Boston, MA, 02110-3399, USA

    John W. Mandelman

  2. Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, PO Box 68, Vineyard Haven, MA, 02568, USA

    Gregory B. Skomal

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  1. John W. Mandelman
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  2. Gregory B. Skomal
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Correspondence to John W. Mandelman.

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Communicated by H. V. Carey.

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Mandelman, J.W., Skomal, G.B. Differential sensitivity to capture stress assessed by blood acid–base status in five carcharhinid sharks. J Comp Physiol B 179, 267–277 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-008-0306-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-008-0306-4

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