An extender solution for the short-term storage ofLitopenaeus vannameisperm to be used in artificial insemination

Abstract

Some shrimp hatcheries use artificial insemination (AI) to improve the male to female ratio in their breeding populations. We describe a sperm extender solution, which allows the short‐term storage of diluted sperm in Litopenaeus vannamei, and its use in an artificial insemination process. We also evaluate its fertilization capacity. An AI experiment was designed using two, one, or half spermatophore segments. We tested four treatments involving three different male:female ratios: Natural mating (1:1), Regular and Regular diluted (1:2) and Half diluted (1:4). Data analysis revealed that the number of nauplii produced per mating was affected by treatment, with Regular (158 420) performing better than Half diluted (112 864) (P < 0.05), but with no differences between the latter and Regular diluted (130 340) (P > 0.05). A binomial variable named female success (FS) was defined as successful when the number of nauplii obtained per mate was ≥25 000. Analysis showed differences for FS across treatments (P < 0.001), but not between Regular (79.2%), the hatchery conventional AI technique and Half diluted (60.4%), maybe due to sample size. Since the number of nauplii per mate is crucial to consider AI successful, it is necessary to improve this AI technique before it can be used in the shrimp industry.

A simple method for short-term storage and transportation of spermatophores of Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei )

“…Nevertheless, it is unknown if they keep, or do not keep, their fertilizing potential. A previous study by Morales-Ueno et al (2013) reported successful insemination of females with sperm kept for 4 h, in the same conditions reported in this paper. Therefore, further studies will be important to evaluate the fertilization capability of sperm transported for ~27 h.…”

“…It is cultured in 33 countries and, for the last five years, its production was 50% of the total world crustacean production (FAO, 2012). Despite the worldwide economic contribution of this species, the use of reproductive technologies to enhance production is scarce (Dong et al, 2004;Nimrat et al, 2006;Ulate & Alfaro-Montoya, 2010;Morales-Ueno et al, 2013). The design of a transportation method for spermatophores would help to disseminate valuable genetic material to enhance production.…”

Genetic parameters for spawning and growth traits in the Pacific white shrimp (Penaeus (Litopenaeus) vannamei)

“…Once females were artificially inseminated by using one spermatophore segment (Morales‐Ueno, Montaldo, Martínez, Paniagua‐Chávez & Castillo‐Juárez ), they were individually placed in 200‐L spawning tanks for 6 h, and then placed back into maturation tanks.…”

Recent developments in male fertility evaluation, sperm cryopreservation and artificial fertilisation, and their potential application to decapod crustacean aquaculture

“…The spermatophore, spermatic mass or spermatozoa of crustaceans have been held at room temperature (20–25°C), chilled (2–4°C) or cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen (−196°C) 7,10,196 . For short‐term storage of decapod spermatozoa, most studies reported good sperm viability in the absence of cryoprotectant.…”