With the exception of the PvO2
, which was 40% lower
in punctured sharks, the respiratory status of sharks
sampled by caudal puncture did not differ from that of
sharks allowed 72 h to recover from cannulation (Table
1). The Hct of cannulated and punctured sharks did not
differ but the MCHC, and as a consequence the [Hb],
were markedly lower in cannulated sharks. While the
23% reduction in MCHC was indicative of cell swelling
neither the RBC nor MCV differed between cannulated
and punctured sharks (Table 1). The pHa of punctured
sharks was 0.6 units lower than that of cannulated
sharks despite plasma and erythrocyte L-lactate concentrations
being 68% lower in punctured sharks (Table
2).