Short-Term Storage of Diluted Fish Sperm in Air Versus Oxygen

Herein we demonstrated the effect of oxygen and air atmosphere on the success of short-term storage of sperm obtained from rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus) and common carp (Cyprinus carpio) diluted in immobilizing media (100 mM NaCl, 40 mM KCl, 3 mM CaCl2, 1.5 mM MgCl2, 50mM Tris, pH 8.2 for salmonid fish, 17 mM NaCl, 1.7 mM KCl, 6 mM NaHCO3, 0.5 mM CaCl2, 0.5 mM MgSO4 x 7 H2O, 1.1 mM NaH2PO4 x 2H2O, 1.0 mM Na2HPO4, 50 mM glucose, pH 7.5 for sturgeon, 100 mM NaCl, 3.1 mM KCl, 2 mM CaCl2, 0.4 mM MgCl2, 25 mM NaHCO3, 0.3 mM NaH2PO4; pH 8.64 for cyprinids). Sperm motility of rainbow trout was observed up to 33 days, and percentage of motile spermatozoa was high (70%) up to 14 days after the start of the experiment. In the case of sperm samples which were stored with oxygen, sperm motility (30%) was observed for only two weeks; after this time, sperm motility decreased to 1%. Diluted sturgeon sperm quickly lost their movement potential when stored with oxygen. Samples kept in aerobic conditions maintained 80% of motile spermatozoa after 10 days of short-term storage. In the case of the carp, both, oxygen and aerobic conditions gave similar results within 6 days of the experiment. We assume that short-term storage of diluted fish sperm can be carried out in aerobic conditions which is easier and cheaper in comparison to the pure oxygen atmosphere.