Stress and Reproductive Hormones of Free-Ranging Dolphins Across a Natural Salinity Gradient.

ABSTRACT: Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) inhabit environments with variable natural salinities and experience physiological imbalances from extreme salinity fluctuations. Low salinity exposure (≤10) disrupts osmoregulation and increases the production of steroid hormones aldosterone (electrolyte balance) and cortisol (stress response). The effect(s) of high salinity exposure (>35) on steroid hormone production in bottlenose dolphins has not previously been assessed. We measured stress hormones (aldosterone, corticosterone, cortisol, and cortisone) and reproductive hormones (progesterone and testosterone) in three stocks of free-ranging bottlenose dolphins inhabiting different natural salinities across the Gulf of Mexico (0-30, 22-35, 36+). Hormones were extracted from the blubber of

SUBMITTER: Guinn MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11561764 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature