Blood gas, oxygen saturation, pH, and lactate values in elasmobranch blood measured with a commercially available portable clinical analyzer and standard laboratory instruments.

Blood gas, pH, and lactate data are often used to assess the physiological status and health of fish and can often be most valuable when blood samples are analyzed immediately after collection. Portable clinical analyzers allow these measurements to be made easily in the field. However, these instruments are designed for clinical use and thus process samples at 37 degrees C. A few studies have validated the use of portable clinical analyzers for assessing blood gases and acid-base profiles in teleosts, but equivalent data are not available for elasmobranchs. We therefore examined the relationship of blood gas, pH, and lactate values measured with an i-STAT portable clinical analyzer with those measured using standard laboratory blood gas (thermostatted to 25 degrees C) and lactate analyzers in samples taken from three species of carcharhiniform sharks. We found tight correlations (r2 > 0.90) between these methods for pH, pO2, pCO2, and lactate level values. We thus developed species-specific equations for converting blood values measured with an i-STAT portable clinical analyzer to those taken at 25 degrees C. Additional studies need to address a wider range of temperatures and elasmobranch species.