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Title: Quality assessment of wild Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) semen under conditions of short-term storage

Author
item DORSEY, KATHRYN - University Of Maryland
item Guthrie, Howard
item Welch, Glenn
item MOHLER, JERRE - Us Fish And Wildlife Service
item THEISEN, DANIEL - University Of Maryland
item SIEWERDT, FRANK - University Of Maryland
item Vinyard, Bryan
item WOODS, CURRY - University Of Maryland

Submitted to: North American Journal of Aquaculture
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/20/2010
Publication Date: 3/20/2011
Citation: Dorsey, K.M., Guthrie, H.D., Welch, G.R., Mohler, J., Theisen, D.D., Siewerdt, F., Vinyard, B.T., Woods, C.L. 2011. Quality assessment of wild Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) semen under conditions of short-term storage. North American Journal of Aquaculture. 73:418-425.

Interpretive Summary: Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrhinchus oxyrhinchus) populations have decreased drastically due to overfishing and loss of habitat. They are currently a Species of Concern and have been recently recommended for listing as endangered or threatened. The major hindrance to the ability of biologists to produce Atlantic sturgeon is the inability to have viable gametes of both sexes available simultaneously. In the absence of any published efficacious Atlantic sturgeon sperm cryopreservation protocols we evaluated experimental short-term storage protocols for liquid semen. Semen was collected from a total of four and five spermiating wild males captured on the spawning grounds of the Hudson River during the 2008 and 2009 spawning seasons, respectively. Semen samples were kept refrigerated (4 plus or minus 1 degree C) and stored in different gaseous atmospheres and storage extenders. Gas atmosphere environments included oxygen, nitrogen or air, while extender treatments included Modified Tsvetkova (MT), Park & Chapman (PC), or undiluted. Analyses of four response variables percent viable sperm (viability), percent motile sperm (motility), curvilinear velocity (VCL), and ATP content were determined on Day 0 (day of arrival in the laboratory), and then every other day for 7 d in 2008 and for 21 d in 2009. The best storage conditions were a 100% oxygen atmosphere or air in the PC extender. We conclude that for Atlantic sturgeon semen storage, PC was the extender of choice and semen could be stored in either 100% oxygen or a lesser amount of oxygen contained in air for up to 21 d with some expectation of fertility.

Technical Abstract: Short-term storage trials were conducted with Atlantic sturgeon semen collected from a total of nine wild males during the 2008 and 2009 spawning seasons on the Hudson River. Semen samples were kept refrigerated (4 plus or minus 1 degree C) and stored in different gaseous atmospheres and storage extenders. Gas atmosphere environments included oxygen, nitrogen or air, while extender treatments included Modified Tsvetkova (MT), Park & Chapman (PC), or undiluted. Analyses of four response variables percent viable sperm (viability), percent motile sperm (motility), curvilinear velocity (VCL), and ATP content were determined on Day 0 (day of arrival in the laboratory), and then every other day for 7 d in 2008 and for 21 d in 2009. The experiments were conducted in a split-split-plot design to examine dilution treatment, gas atmosphere and repeated measures across days. Linear analysis of covariance models were fit to the data (after appropriate transformation) using SAS v9.2 PROC GLIMMIX. Storage of sperm in an oxygen atmosphere was superior to nitrogen for all variables. Storage of semen in 100% or 21 % (air) oxygen in PC did not differ among variables except for viability; viability was maintained at > 95% through 13 d and decreased to 88% and 94% on Day 21 under 100% oxygen and air, respectively; during last five d survival in an air atmosphere was slightly better (P < 0.05) than for 100% oxygen (P < 0.05). Motility decreased during the 21 d of storage and the decline was greater (P < 0.05) in undiluted than in PC semen decreasing from 85% on Day 1 to approximately 21 and 47%, respectively, on Day 21. We conclude that for Atlantic sturgeon semen storage, PC was the extender of choice and semen could be stored in either 100% oxygen or a lesser amount of oxygen contained in air for up to 21 d with some expectation of fertility.