Development of cryopreservation for maintaining yellow catfish Pelteobagrus fulvidraco sperm

Yellow catfish (Pelteobagrus fulvidraco) is a candidate freshwater fish for aquaculture in China with its high consumer demand. The aim of this study was to examine the possibility of storage of the sperm of yellow catfish by cryopreservation in liquid nitrogen. Experiments were designed to investigate the effects of the different combinations of three extenders (Ringer extender, Kurokura-1 extender and D-15 extender) and three cryoprotectants (DMSO, Glycerol and Methanol) on the cryopreservation of yellow catfish sperm. Post-thaw sperm motility, fertilization and hatching rate were detected to evaluate the reliability of sperm cryopreservation. The results demonstrated that Ringer extender and 10% methanol was the best combination for protecting the sperm during freezing in liquid nitrogen by a three-step method and thawing in a water bath at 37 °C for 60 s. In this combination for cryopreservation, sperm maintained the highest post-thaw motility (65 ± 5%), fertilization (90.47 ± 3.67%) and hatching rate (88 ± 4%). And more interestingly, the fertilization and hatching rate were similar to those of fresh sperm (97.55 ± 2.74% and 92 ± 5%). Successful sperm cryopreservation techniques for yellow catfish have been developed for hatchery purpose.