鯊魚傷疤的癒合

一直以來鯊魚受傷的癒合程度都影響著他們的保育和生存機率。澳洲JC大學的研究團隊在Moorea島周圍研究Blacktip reef shark的傷疤癒合速率，發現無論是哪種類型的傷疤(肚臍、交配咬傷、嚴重外傷、侵入式追蹤標籤傷疤)，大都會在一個月內癒合到幾乎看不出來有受傷過。作者認為，鯊魚的外傷癒合能力極強，通常壓力才是造成他們死亡的原因，因此釣客或是漁船不小心捕獲鯊魚的話，應該盡速放走，可以的話不要取回魚鉤，避免延長留置時間，增加鯊魚不必要的緊迫。而使用圓形鉤(circle hooks)可以有效避免鯊魚誤吞魚鉤，減少死亡率。另外對傷疤癒合速度的了解，可用於更準確的推測鯊魚出生和交配的時間。

Healing rates, recovery and survival are important factors to consider when assessing impacts of habitat degradation and fishing stress on shark populations. The present study suggests that individual survival may depend more on handling practices and physiological stress rather than the extent of physical injury.
These observations also contribute to discussions regarding the ethics of tagging practices used in elasmobranch research
and provide baseline healing rates that may increase the accuracy in estimating reproductive timing inferred from mating scars and birth dates for neonatal sharks based on umbilical scar healing status.

original paper:
Blacktip reef sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus) show high capacity for wound healing and recovery following injury
https://conphys.oxfordjournals.org/content/3/1/cov062.short