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Measurement of fecal glucocorticoids in parrotfishes to assess stress

Overview of attention for article published in General & Comparative Endocrinology, October 2003
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 25% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (85th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (93rd percentile)

Mentioned by

patent
6 patents

Citations

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47 Dimensions

Readers on

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113 Mendeley
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Title
Measurement of fecal glucocorticoids in parrotfishes to assess stress
Published in
General & Comparative Endocrinology, October 2003
DOI 10.1016/s0016-6480(03)00196-5
Pubmed ID
Authors

John W Turner, Richard Nemeth, Caroline Rogers

Abstract

Coral reefs are in decline worldwide from a combination of natural and human forces. The environmental compromises faced by coral reef habitats and their associated fishes are potentially stressful, and in this study we examined the potential for assessing stress levels in coral reef fish. We determined the feasibility of using fecal casts from parrotfishes for remote assessment of stress-related hormones (cortisol and corticosterone), and the response of these hormones to the stress of restraint and hypoxia. Measurement of these hormones in fecal extracts by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was validated using mass spectrometry, chemical derivitization, and radioactive tracer methods. In aquarium-adapted parrotfish, baseline levels of cortisol and corticosterone averaged 3.4+/-1.1 and 14.8+/-2.8 ng/g feces, respectively, across 32 days. During 13 days of periodic stress these hormones, respectively, average 10.8-fold and 3.2-fold greater than baseline, with a return to near baseline during a 23-day follow-up. Testosterone was also measured as a reference hormone which is not part of the stress-response axis. Levels of this hormone were similar across the study. These fecal hormones were also measured in a field study of parrotfish in 10 fringing coral reef areas around the Caribbean Island of St. John, US Virgin Islands. Extracts of remotely collected fecal casts of three parrotfish species revealed no difference in respective average hormone levels among these species. Also, there was no difference in respective hormone levels between aquarium and field environments. However, levels of both cortisol and corticosterone, but not testosterone, were elevated in two of the 10 reef sites surveyed. This study demonstrates that parrotfish fecals can be collected in aquarium and field conditions and that steroid hormones in these fecals can be extracted and reliably measured. The study also demonstrates that cortisol and corticosterone in parrotfish fecals can be used as an indicator of the stress-response which is unlikely to be masked by intrinsic variability in the sample source, environment or methodology.

Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 113 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Portugal 1 <1%
Switzerland 1 <1%
Brazil 1 <1%
United Kingdom 1 <1%
Taiwan 1 <1%
Spain 1 <1%
United States 1 <1%
Unknown 106 94%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 24 21%
Researcher 23 20%
Student > Master 17 15%
Student > Doctoral Student 9 8%
Student > Bachelor 8 7%
Other 21 19%
Unknown 11 10%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 65 58%
Environmental Science 14 12%
Veterinary Science and Veterinary Medicine 4 4%
Psychology 3 3%
Medicine and Dentistry 2 2%
Other 11 10%
Unknown 14 12%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 9. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 15 February 2024.
All research outputs
#3,798,066
of 25,371,288 outputs
Outputs from General & Comparative Endocrinology
#114
of 1,914 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#5,832
of 56,293 outputs
Outputs of similar age from General & Comparative Endocrinology
#1
of 15 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,371,288 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 83rd percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,914 research outputs from this source. They receive a mean Attention Score of 3.7. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 93% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 56,293 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 85% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 15 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 93% of its contemporaries.