Non-lethal assessment of reproductive stage for female blue sharks Prionace glauca using sex steroid hormones |
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| Authors: | Yuki Fujinami Yasuko Semba |
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| Institution: | Tuna and Skipjack Resources Department, National Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries, Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency, Shimizu, Shizuoka, Japan |
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| Abstract: | Plasma concentrations of progesterone (P4) and 17β-oestradiol (E2) in juvenile, pre-ovulatory, early, mid- or late pregnancy stages of female blue sharks Prionace glauca were analysed. Concentrations of P4 were significantly higher in pregnant than in non-pregnant individuals, whereas E2 concentrations increased with embryonic and follicular development. A highly accurate (86.1%) random forest classification model was developed to predict shark pregnancy. It is proposed that hormone concentrations could be used for the subsequent non-lethal determination of female P. glauca reproductive state. |
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| Keywords: | non-lethal sampling oestradiol progesterone random forest classification |
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