Artificial insemination of the American lobster (Homarus)

Abstract

A technique has been developed for artificially inseminating freshly molted female lobsters (Homarus). Using the criterion that eggs were fertilized if they showed development of normal cleavage patterns, at least 49.5% of the inseminated females extruded fertilized eggs. Sixty‐two percent of the fertilized eggs developed to the eyespot stage, and 26.6% of these subsequently hatched. Eggs were not fertilized in 7.7% of the extrusions. In 42% of the samples, it was not possible to establish whether fertilization had occurred because either samples were collected prior to initiation of cleavage or eggs were too poorly preserved to assess cleavage with confidence. It is probable that many of the eggs that were evaluated as equivocal were also fertilized. This technique should be valuable in the experimental and commercial aquaculture of lobsters and might be directly applicable to other crustaceans.

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

“…While long‐term cryopreservation of spermatozoa is discussed further in Section 3, short‐term storage of both spermatophore or spermatozoa help enhance reproductive management at the hatchery by allowing more time to complete sperm quality assessments, and adding more flexibility to carry out breeding programmes, specifically for artificial insemination, 7,8,60 where spermatozoa need to be maintained in vitro for a short period prior to the insemination procedure 10 . By developing an optimised semen extender, the number of females inseminated per male can be maximised, and time window to execute artificial insemination can be increased.…”

“…26,57,58 It should also provide an isotonic environment for spermatozoa with good pH buffering capacity, and include nutrients and sugars necessary for sperm cell survival, as well as antioxidants to control reactive oxygen species and antibacterial substances to fight bacterial proliferation. 58,59 While long-term cryopreservation of spermatozoa is discussed further in Section 3, short-term storage of both spermatophore or spermatozoa help enhance reproductive management at the hatchery by allowing more time to complete sperm quality assessments, and adding more flexibility to carry out breeding programmes, specifically for artificial insemination, 7,8,60 where spermatozoa need to be maintained in vitro for a short period prior to the insemination TA B L E 1 Methods of spermatophore extraction, handling, semen extenders and sperm quality evaluation reported for decapod crustaceans…”

Artificial Insemination and its Importance in Marine Crustaceans: A Review

“…The female artificially inseminated with banked spermatophore have successfully fertilized eggs, indicating that banked sperm retains their fertility. The sperm collected by electrical stimulation placed under paraffin oil and maintained at 4-7 °C contained morphologically normal sperm capable of undergoing normal acrosome reaction after 289days of storage [6].…”