Evaluating ultrasonography as a non-lethal method for the assessment of maturity in oviparous elasmobranchs |
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Authors: | Jonathan M Whittamore Craig Bloomer Grainne M Hanna Ian D McCarthy |
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Institution: | (1) School of Ocean Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Menai Bridge, Anglesey, LL59 5AB, UK;(2) School of Biosciences, University of Exeter, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter, EX4 4PS, UK; |
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Abstract: | Due to the impacts of commercial fishing on elasmobranchs, future research and management necessitates reliable and accurate
information on life history. For females, maturity assessment is limited to dissection, and it is not desirable to be removing
large numbers in order to assess the reproductive characteristics of a population. The present study evaluated ultrasonography
as a potential, non-lethal method for assessing the maturity status of two oviparous elasmobranchs, the thornback ray (Raja clavata) and small-spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula). Ultrasound permitted visualisation and measurement of the ovary in R. clavata, and the shell gland, ovarian follicles and egg capsules within the oviducts for S. canicula. With the exception of the ovary in R. clavata, the dimensions of these structures on the sonograms were directly corroborated by in situ measurements, and ultrasound was
verified as an accurate and reliable method of making quantitative and qualitative assessments of these internal reproductive
structures. |
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