Evidence for cortisol in a shark
Description
Datasets are presented for analyses in Weinrauch et al. 2026 10.1098/rspb.2026.1440. See the 'metadata' tab for descriptions of individual excel tabs that are associated with each figure in the manuscript. Pacific spiny dogfish (Squalus suckleyi) were collected under Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada permits XR-139 2021. Experiments were conducted under approval from the Bamfield Marine Science Centre Animal Care Committee (animal user protocols RS-21-03). This dataset supports a study that found evidence for production of cortisol in a shark species. Dogfish underwent one of two treatment regimes: 1) acute exposure to low salinity (70% seawater; 21 ppt) followed by 72 h of recovery in 100% seawater (32 ppt), or 2) daily gavage of an antibiotics cocktail or paired seawater sham control for 5 days, followed by 72 h of recovery in individual boxes. Repeated plasma samples were drawn for measures of corticosteroids (cortisol and corticosterone) critically following HPLC separation. Presence of cortisol was confirmed using HPLC-MS/MS. Additionally, some dogfish were terminally sampled for interrenal tissue to examine molecular endpoints by qPCR involved in key steps of the corticosteroid synthesis pathway. Lastly, the physiological impacts of cortisol were assessed using cortisol implants where potential mineralocorticoid (i.e., osmolality, urea) or glucocorticoid (e.g., beta hydroxybutyrate, glucose) responses in plasma were measured. These data provide novel information regarding corticosteroid endpoints in a shark species.
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Steps to reproduce
A detailed description of the methods appears in the manuscript. Code used to analyze the data will be made available from the contributing author upon request.
Institutions
- University of ManitobaManitoba, Winnipeg
- Bamfield Marine Sciences CentreBritish Columbia, Ucluelet