Morphometric analysis of spermatozoa from native fish of pampean shallow lake

Abstract

The pampean shallow lakes provide habitat for fish species with biological, economic, and social importance. In the South American region, many commercial species are overexploited. This boosted the implementation of hatcheries to maintain the demand for aquaculture production. The use of reproductive biotechnologies, such as cryopreservation of semen, would increase the production of hatcheries. To do this, it should be considered that the management of cryopreserved semen requires adequate tools to evaluate its fertility. Up to the present, morphometry of fish sperm is not included in routine assessments. This parameter, along with mobility, viability, concentration, morphology and membrane integrity, are determinants of semen quality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the morphometric parameters of sperm cells in pampean native species Oligosarcus jenynsii, Odonthestes bonariensis and Cyphocharax voga using a computerized system for semen analysis. These determinations allowed obtaining reference parameters in relation to the cell size and shape. Significant interspecific differences were observed in sperm size parameters, while the shape of the sperm heads of the analyzed species tended to be spherical. This work constitutes a contribution in the analysis of the morphometry of fish sperm of native species.