The Hindlimb Arterial Vessels in Lowland paca (Cuniculus paca,Linnaeus 1766)

This study aims to describe the origin and distribution of the hindlimb arterial vessels. Five adult lowland pacas (Cuniculus paca) were used. Stained and diluted latex was injected, caudally to the aorta. After fixation in 10% paraformaldehyde for 72 h, we dissected to visualize and identify the vessels. It was found out that the vascularization of the hindlimb in lowland paca derives from the terminal branch of the abdominal aorta. The common iliac artery divides into external iliac and internal iliac. The external iliac artery emits the deep iliac circumflex artery, the pudendal epigastric trunk, the deep femoral artery; the femoral artery originates the saphenous artery, it bifurcates into cranial and caudal saphenous arteries. Immediately after the knee joint, the femoral artery is called popliteal artery, which divides into tibial cranial and tibial caudal arteries at the level of the crural inter‐osseous space. The origin and distribution of arteries in the hindlimb of lowland paca resembles that in other wild rodents, as well as in the domestic mammals.     

Ultrastructural Characterization of Fresh and Vitrified In Vitro‐ and In Vivo‐Produced Sheep Embryos

The lower results in cryopreservation of in vitro‐produced (IVP) sheep embryos, when compared to the in vivo derived, limits its use. Four groups of blastocyst (BL) were evaluated: fresh IVP (n = 3), fresh in vivo derived (n = 3), warmed IVP cryopreserved in open pulled straws (OPS, n = 3) and warmed in vivo derived cryopreserved in OPS (n = 3). Ultrastructural observation of processed fresh embryos showed a reduced number of microvilli and mitochondria in the IVP ones, as well as a lower number of mature mitochondria, that can be associated with deficient metabolism in IVP embryos, possibly involved in the lower resistance to cryopreservation. Both in vivo‐derived and IVP embryos had a large number of vesicles, with light and dense content. In embryos vitrified by OPS, major changes were observed mainly in IVP embryos with small changes in grade 2 (fair) and high changes in grade 3 (bad) semithin scoring. The main changes associated with cryopreservation included disruption of cellular membranes and poor intracellular preservation, with loss of microvilli and the presence of cellular debris. In conclusion, ultrastructural evaluation of IVP blastocysts cryopreserved in OPS was herein described for the first time, reporting more severe cellular damage in these embryos when compared to those produced in vivo. This is probably associated with a lower cryotolerance that can be related to their lipid content and metabolism.     

Influences of Sex and Age on the Hematological Profile of the Jundiá (Silver Catfish) Rhamdia quelen

In this study, sex and age influenced the hematological profiles of Jundiá (Silver Catfish) Rhamdia quelen. Females showed lower levels of hemoglobin, young fish increased lymphocyte counts, and older fish increased hematocrit values. These results indicate that, depending on age and sex, the fish have disparate hematological profiles. For this reason, it is important to consider the sex and age of an R. quelen when examining the impact of environmental and management factors on this species in terms of their hematological profiles.

Received May 24, 2015; accepted March 24, 2016 Published online August 2, 2016     

Physiological and biochemical changes of females of Piracanjuba,subjected to induced reproduction

The aim of this experiment was to compare the level of fish female stress during induced reproduction with pituitary extract by two different methods, natural and semiextruded. The reproductive efficiency was 62.5% in the seminatural treatment and 100% in the extruded. Obtained egg volume was 5200 ml and 4000 ml, for seminatural and extruded treatments respectively. The mean number of eggs was 46.7 for the seminatural and 52.0 and for the extruded treatment. The percentage of viable eggs was, respectively, 87.2% and 8.17% for the natural treatment and extruded semimethods. Blood samples were collected to quantify cortisol and glucose levels, as well as red cell series and lymphocyte count. Fishes submitted to induction procedures showed elevated cortisol and glucose levels, compared to the control animals. The results for haematocrit, haemoglobin concentration and red blood cell count showed no significant differences among groups. Significant differences found in the number of lymphocytes and monocytes suggest the general adaptation syndrome. Our results suggest the reproductive induction process with extrusion of gametes as a more stressful method than seminatural reproduction process.     

Mineral requirements of hair sheep in tropical climates

In this study, we evaluated the requirements of calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na) and potassium (K) for sheep hair growth. Experimental diets contained different levels of metabolizable energy [ME; 0.96, 1.28, 1.72, 2.18 and 2.62 Mcal/kg of dry matter, (DM), corresponding to 4.23, 5.64, 7.58, 9.61 and 11.55 MJ/kg DM]. The lambs' hair (n = 48) at 2 months of age presented an average body weight (BW) of 12.05 ± 1.81 kg. At the beginning of the experiment, eight animals were slaughtered as a reference group to estimate the initial empty body weight and body composition. Net mineral requirements (g/day) ranged from 0.73 to 0.71 g of Ca, 0.51 to 0.49 g of P, 0.026 to 0.026 g of Mg, 0.16 to 0.19 g of Na and 0.15 to 0.13 g of K for animals with a BW ranging from 15 to 30 kg and a daily gain of 100 g. The results of this study indicate that the net macromineral requirements for weight gain in Morada Nova lambs are different from the values commonly recommended by the Agricultural and Food Research Council.