Cryopreservation of European catfish Silurus glanis sperm: Sperm motility, viability, and hatching success of embryos

The aim of this study was to elaborate cryopreservation methods for ex situ conservation of European catfish. The success of sperm cryopreservation was evaluated by post-thaw sperm motility and velocity, percentage of live spermatozoa and fertility (hatching rates) using frozen/thawed sperm. The best hatching rates of 82-86% were obtained with sperm stored for 5 h before freezing in immobilizing solution and frozen with Me2SO in concentrations of 8, 10, and 12%, or with a mixture of 5% Me2SO and 5% propandiole. These results did not significantly differ from the fresh sperm control sample. The percentage of live spermatozoa in frozen/thawed sperm did not correlate with hatching rate or motility of spermatozoa, but was negatively correlated with velocity of spermatozoa (r = −0.47, P = 0.05). The percentage motility in frozen/thawed sperm ranged from 8 to 62%, when sperm was stored in immobilizing solution 5 h before freezing. The average value in the fresh sperm (control) was 96%. The frozen/thawed sperm motility rate significantly correlated with the hatching rate (r = 0.76, P = 0.0002), but not with the percentage of live spermatozoa (r = 0.16, P = 0.52) or the sperm velocity (r = 0.07, P = 0.79). The velocity of frozen/thawed spermatozoa ranged from 37 to 85 μm/s, whereby methanol concentrations of 7.5 and 10% resulted in highest velocities. Freezing sperm volumes of 1-4 ml did not affect the quality of frozen/thawed sperm.