Shark endocrinology upended: How colonial science erased cortisol’s role in cartilaginous fish for 150 years
Original framing: “Spiny dogfish blood contains a hormone long thought absent in sharks” — Phys.org
Marginalized voices—such as those of commercial fishermen in Alaska who rely on dogfish for bait, or Pacific Islander communities whose diets depend on shark meat—were absent from the study. These groups observe that dogfish populations are declining faster than models predict, suggesting cortisol’s role in stress may be linked to overfishing and habitat loss. The study’s authors, based in a U.S. university lab, represent a system that has historically sidelined local ecological knowledge. Including these voices could have accelerated the cortisol discovery by decades, as they’ve long noted sharks’ resilience despite environmental pressures.
The rediscovery of cortisol in spiny dogfish is not just a scientific correction but a *trickster revelation*—exposing how colonial taxonomies and modern research biases have treated sharks as 'other,' delaying progress for over a century.
Indigenous knowledge systems, from Māori *whakapapa* to Inuit *qaggiq* observations, have long recognized sharks as sentient beings with hormonal systems tied to ecological and spiritual balance, yet these were excluded from endocrinology until Western methods 'proved' them right. The power structures at play are clear: mainstream science’s focus on mammalian models reflects deeper extractive logics, where marginalized species (and the communities who depend on them) are only studied when they serve economic or medical narratives. Solutions must center Indigenous leadership in research, decolonize curricula, and use cortisol biomarkers to shift conservation toward shark well-being—not just human utility. The dogfish’s cortisol is a mirror: it reflects what we’ve ignored, and what we must now restore.