Shark populations are constantly decreasing owing to environmental destruction and overfishing; thus, sharks are now at a risk of extinction, with 27.9% of shark species classified as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List. Sharks are apex predators and a keystone species in balancing the marine food chain; their extinction will create an imbalance of the entire marine ecosystem. Assisted reproductive technology is the last resort for protecting animals facing severe extinction. Here, as a proactive effort toward building a hormone-induced artificial insemination protocol for endangered wild sharks, we identified the possibility of germ cell maturation by administration of Ovaprim®, a commercially produced synthetic salmon gonadotropin-releasing hormone, and calculated its optimum dosage and injection timing. The experiment was conducted on two shark species—Triakis scyllium and Triaenodon obesus. We found that intramuscular injections of 0.2 mL/kg of Ovaprim® for male T. scyllium and T. obesus, 0.2 mL/kg + 0.5 mL/kg at a 24 h interval for female T. scyllium, and 0.2 mL/kg + 0.2 mL/kg or 0.2 mL/kg + 0.3 mL/kg at a 24 h interval for female T. obesus were optimal dose protocols. These doses effectively induced the maturation and ovulation of oocytes and the release of semen. Our results confirm that Ovaprim® is a suitable tool for shark hormone-induced artificial insemination and indicate that this method may enable the conservation of the endangered shark species.

中文翻译：

---

在鲨鱼中使用合成鲑鱼 GnRH 和多潘立酮 (Ovaprim®)：为异地保护做准备

由于环境破坏和过度捕捞，鲨鱼数量不断减少；因此，鲨鱼现在面临灭绝的危险，27.9% 的鲨鱼物种被国际自然保护联盟的红色名录列为濒危物种。鲨鱼是顶级掠食者，也是平衡海洋食物链的关键物种；它们的灭绝将造成整个海洋生态系统的失衡。辅助生殖技术是保护面临严重灭绝的动物的最后手段。在这里，作为为濒临灭绝的野生鲨鱼建立激素诱导人工授精方案的积极努力，我们确定了通过施用 Ovaprim®（一种商业生产的合成鲑鱼促性腺激素释放激素）使生殖细胞成熟的可能性，并计算了其最佳剂量和喷射正时。该实验是针对两种鲨鱼进行的——Triakis scyllium 和 Triaenodon obesus。我们发现肌肉注射 0.2 mL/kg 的 Ovaprim® 用于雄性 T. scyllium 和 T. obesus，0.2 mL/kg + 0.5 mL/kg 用于雌性 T. scyllium，间隔 24 小时，以及 0.2 mL/kg + 0.2 mL/kg 或 0.2 mL/kg + 0.3 mL/kg 间隔 24 小时对女性肥胖 T. 是最佳剂量方案。这些剂量有效地诱导了卵母细胞的成熟和排卵以及精液的释放。我们的结果证实 Ovaprim® 是鲨鱼激素诱导人工授精的合适工具，并表明这种方法可以保护濒临灭绝的鲨鱼物种。雌性 T. scyllium 为 2 mL/kg + 0.5 mL/kg，间隔 24 小时，雌性 T. obesus 为 0.2 mL/kg + 0.2 mL/kg 或 0.2 mL/kg + 0.3 mL/kg，间隔 24 小时是最佳剂量方案。这些剂量有效地诱导了卵母细胞的成熟和排卵以及精液的释放。我们的结果证实 Ovaprim® 是鲨鱼激素诱导人工授精的合适工具，并表明这种方法可以保护濒临灭绝的鲨鱼物种。雌性 T. scyllium 为 2 mL/kg + 0.5 mL/kg，间隔 24 小时，雌性 T. obesus 为 0.2 mL/kg + 0.2 mL/kg 或 0.2 mL/kg + 0.3 mL/kg，间隔 24 小时是最佳剂量方案。这些剂量有效地诱导了卵母细胞的成熟和排卵以及精液的释放。我们的结果证实 Ovaprim® 是鲨鱼激素诱导人工授精的合适工具，并表明这种方法可以保护濒临灭绝的鲨鱼物种。