Knowledge on species’ reproductive biology is a fundamental pre-requisite of every conservation effort, but is often lacking. Sex steroids can provide valuable information for the assessment of reproductive success, whereas glucocorticoids are used to assess adrenocortical activity and stress-related bodily adaption. However, due to their perilous condition, access to animals is often difficult, which makes hormone measurement in non-invasively collected hair samples an attractive option. We determined cortisol, cortisone, corticosterone, testosterone and progesterone in Iberian lynx hair using enzyme immunoassay (EIA). Cross-validation was performed with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). Finally, we statistically evaluated the variations of sex steroids and glucocorticoids according to age, sex, origin, behavior and management. All steroids except corticosterone were detectable in Iberian lynx hair. Hair more comprehensive approach to hair steroid measurement that accounts for local interconversion and co-regulation mechanisms.Assessing the physiological impact of stressors in pinnipeds is logistically challenging, and many hormones are altered by capture and handling, limiting the utility of metabolically active tissues. Hair is increasingly being used to investigate stress-related and reproductive hormones in wildlife populations due to less-invasive collection methods, being metabolically inert once grown and containing multiple biomarkers of ecological interest. We validated enzyme immunoassays for measuring aldosterone, cortisol, corticosterone, and testosterone in lanugo (natal hair grown in utero) samples collected from Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus), California sea lions (Zalophus californianus), and northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus). We applied laboratory validation methods including recovery of added mass, parallelism and dilution linearity. We found no effects due to differences in alcohol- versus detergent-based cleaning methods. Further, there were no significant differences in hormone concentrations in hair samples collected immediately after the molt and the subsequent samples collected over 1 year, indicating steroid hormones are stable once deposited into pinniped hair. PQR309 inhibitor We found no sex differences in any hormone concentrations, likely due to the lanugo being grown in utero and influenced by maternal hormone concentrations. For Steller sea lion and California sea lion pups, we found hormone concentrations significantly differed between rookeries, which warrants future research. Hair provides a novel tissue to explore the intrinsic or extrinsic drivers behind hormone measurements in otariids, which can be paired with multiple health-related metrics to further investigate possible drivers of physiological stress.Harvest restrictions (e.g. size, sex or species limitations) that are implemented to maintain sustainable fisheries often result in by-catch, e.g. unwanted non-target catch. By-catch is frequently discarded back into the ocean and assumed to survive. However, discarded fishes can succumb to delayed mortality resulting from accumulated stress from fishing activity, and such mortality can impede sustainability efforts. Quantifying reflex and behavioural impairments is a quick and cost-effective method to predict discard-related mortality in some species. We developed and evaluated the effectiveness of a release condition index, based on a reflex-action mortality prediction (RAMP) model, for predicting delayed mortality of black sea bass (Centropristis striata) caught and discarded by the commercial trap fishery in the Mid-Atlantic Bight. Accumulation of impairments, and therefore release condition index, was strongly correlated with delayed mortality of black sea bass discarded and held in sea cages. This is the first release condition index validation study to predict mortality in black sea bass and could be a useful approach for predicting delayed mortality in the commercial fishery.Predation risk can strongly shape prey ecological traits, with specific anti-predator responses displayed to reduce encounters with predators. Key environmental drivers, such as temperature, can profoundly modulate prey energetic costs in ectotherms, although we currently lack knowledge of how both temperature and predation risk can challenge prey physiology and ecology. Such uncertainties in predator-prey interactions are particularly relevant for marine regions experiencing rapid environmental changes due to climate change. Using the octopus (Octopus maorum)-spiny lobster (Jasus edwardsii) interaction as a predator-prey model, we examined different metabolic traits of sub adult spiny lobsters under predation risk in combination with two thermal scenarios ‘current’ (20°C) and ‘warming’ (23°C), based on projections of sea-surface temperature under climate change. We examined lobster standard metabolic rates to define the energetic requirements at specific temperatures. Routine metabolic rates (RMRs) within a mperatures may act to override the normal predator-risk responses under climate-change scenarios.In rare cases, the celiac artery and the superior mesenteric artery arise from a common origin known as a common celiacomesenteric trunk. Celiac trunk stenosis or occlusion has been reported to accompany this anatomical aberrancy. Even rarer, are aneurysms associated with this common celiacomesenteric trunk. In general, visceral artery aneurysms are uncommon. We hereby present a 39-year-old female patient with a 1-month history of mild diffuse abdominal pain, with an incidental finding of superior mesenteric artery aneurysm on abdominal ultrasound. Subsequent contrast-enhanced computed tomography revealed severe narrowing of the celiac trunk and saccular aneurysmal dilatation of the superior mesenteric artery. Coil embolization of the aneurysm was performed, while maintaining persistent flow in the superior mesenteric artery and celiacomesenteric trunk. Visceral artery aneurysms are increasingly being identified incidentally with improvement in imaging techniques. The question lies whether to treat these aneurysms or observe.