Courtship and Reproduction of the Whitetip Reef Shark (Carcharhiniformes: Carcharhinidae) in an Ex Situ Environment, with a Description of the Late Embryonic Developmental Stage.

Elasmobranchs represent a group of species under considerable anthropic pressure because of the scale of industrial and artisanal fisheries and the loss of essential areas for nursery and feeding, which are causing substantial population losses around the world. Reproduction in an ex situ environment enables a healthy population to be built and maintained in networks of public aquariums, increasing our knowledge of elasmobranch reproductive biology and offering the opportunity for reintroductions in areas where native populations have been removed. The study reports two successful pregnancies of the whitetip reef shark , considered a vulnerable species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Wistar rats immature testicular tissue vitrification and heterotopic grafting.

Objective: To evaluate the efficiency of two vitrification protocols for rat immature testicular tissue and heterotopic transplantation.

Methods: Twenty-four pre-pubertal Wistar rats were divided into three groups (n=8). After orchiectomy, testicular fragments (3mm) from Groups 1 and 2 were vitrified with different cryoprotectant concentration solutions, using sterile inoculation loops as support.

Ovarian tissue vitrification and heterotopic autologous transplantation in prepubertal Wistar rats.

Objective: To evaluate the efficiency of ovarian tissue heterotopic autografting after vitrification in prepubertal rats.

Methods: Fragments of excised ovaries from prepubertal rats were used after assessing post-warming cellular viability, to determine the best vitrification protocol prior to retroauricular autografting. Pre-pubertal females (N=24) were castrated and divided into three group: Group 1 - fresh ovarian tissue transplantation; Group 2 - vitrified/warmed tissue transplantation; Group 3 - bilateral oophorectomy without transplantation.