Sperm of the following Neotropical Characiformes fish species were tested for cold storage: Brycon lundii, Piaractus mesopotamicus, Leporinus elongatus, Leporinus friderici, Prochilodus lineatus and Prochilodus marggravii. Each sperm sample was split into two aliquots. The first was placed into a plastic bag with air or oxygen and the second, in a plastic tube with air. The samples were maintained at temperatures between 1.7-4.9 ºC. The rate of sperm motility was estimated using a 50 mM NaCl solution as the activating solution. The shortest sperm storage duration (7 h) was recorded for L. friderici, when the sperm motility rate reached ~ 30%, whereas the longest duration (20 h) was obtained with the sperm of P. lineatus. A fertilisation test using Prochilodus marggravii sperm refrigerated for 8 h yielded 88-90% of viable embryos. The refrigerated storage method could be of practical applications, especially in fish reproductive management at hatchery stations.
Cool storage of sperm; sperm motility; semen; Neotropical fishes
