The Cryopreservation of Striped Bass Morone saxatilis Semen

Abstract.— Two experiments were designed to improve upon existing methods for cryopreserving striped bass Morone saxatilis , semen. In the first experiment, two extenders, two cryoprotectant concentrations, and two freezing rates were evaluated on the basis of post-thaw semen motility after 1, 7, and 30 d of storage at −196 C. Semen samples cryopreserved at a freezing rate of −40 C/m resulted in a significantly higher percentage of motile sperm ( P < 0.001) and longer duration of spermatozoa motility ( P < 0.001) than samples cryopreserved at a freezing rate of -30 Chin. Also, the cryoprotectant dimethyl-sulfoxide yielded a significantly higher percentage of motile sperm ( P < 0.001) and longer duration of spermatozoa motility ( P < 0.001) when a 5% concentration was used instead of 7.5%. In the second experiment, the two extenders from Experiment I were re-evaluated and a new extender, which was a modified version of Extender 1, was tested. The samples were cryopreserved at -40 C/min with 5% DMSO and thawed in a 25 C water bath. Spermatozoa motility and fertilization ability were evaluated, and semen cryopreserved in Extender 2 yielded the longest duration of spermatozoa motility ( P < 0.001). the highest percentage of motile sperm ( P < 0.001). and the highest percentage of fertilized eggs ( P < 0.002) in comparison to Extenders I and 3.