Abstract Developing and enhancing non-lethal methods for sampling species of high conservation concern, including marine megafauna, has prompted the development of numerous biopsy methods to collect tissue for biochemical analyses. However, many of these analyses require adequately-sized muscle cores for reliable results. Here, we developed and trialed a novel modification to a biopsy probe traditionally limited to underwater use, which enables sampling of free-swimming sharks from above the surface. The modified probe used collected similar amounts of white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, muscle and sub-dermal tissue above water as the traditional underwater probe (muscle: 0.36 g vs. 0.44 g; sub-dermal tissue: 0.62 g vs. 0.44 g for surface and underwater respectively). Both methods obtained sufficient tissue for several analyses to be run on the same tissue core (e.g. stable isotopes, fatty acids, and genetics). This encourages the use of this biopsy probe, with studies assessing stock structure, trophic ecology, or physiology. The described modification adapts the probe to allow above-water deployment, providing more opportunities for effective, non-lethal sampling of free-swimming sharks.

中文翻译：

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简单的活组织检查修改以从自由游泳的鲨鱼中收集肌肉样本

摘要 开发和增强对高度保护关注的物种（包括海洋巨型动物）进行采样的非致命方法，已经促进了许多活检方法的发展，以收集组织进行生化分析。然而，许多这些分析需要足够大小的肌肉核心才能获得可靠的结果。在这里，我们开发并试验了一种对传统上仅限于水下使用的活检探针的新修改，它能够从水面上方对自由游动的鲨鱼进行采样。使用的改良探针在水面上收集了与传统水下探针相似数量的白鲨、Carcharodon carcharias、肌肉和皮下组织（肌肉：0.36 g vs. 0.44 g；皮下组织：0.62 g vs. 0.44 g 表面）和水下）。两种方法都获得了足够的组织，以便在同一组织核心（例如稳定同位素、脂肪酸和遗传学）上进行多次分析。这鼓励使用这种活检探针，研究评估种群结构、营养生态学或生理学。所描述的修改使探头适应水面部署，为自由游动的鲨鱼的有效、非致命采样提供更多机会。