Introduction Elasmobranchs(sharks. rays, and skates) face substantial anthro- pogenic threats. including habitat degradation and fisheries interac tions, thereby exposing this group to a myriad of acute and chronic stressors that may exceed in severity and/or duration those typically imposed by natural events(e.g. predator avoidance). The physiolog ical stress response in teleost fishes has been studied for decades(e.g. Adams. 1990a). Although much of this work has focused on freshwa- ter salmonids, studies examining the stress response in marine tele- osts have been increasing in recent years. Despite the anthropogenic threats and concomitant declines reported im global elasmobranch stocks over the last two decades(Stevens et al.. 2000; Dulvy et al- 2008), directed studies on elasmobranch stress are greatly exceeded by those related to teleosts. Importantly, elasmobranchs possess many unique metabolic and biochemical characteristics relative to other fishes(Ballantyne, 1997: Speers-Roesch et al., 2006). Thus, only select lessons generated from studies on the stress response in teleosts can be confidently applied to elasmobranchs.