Increase sperm viability through simple aeration.

Some of you may be considering and planning artificial spawning of your koi, rather than leaving them to their own devices. There are many things that can help you increase your success/fertility rate (link to previous post) such as feeding them up,  using hormonal induction methods (link to previous post), hand stripping (link to previous post), milt extenders (link to previous post) and others. This paper details efforts made by some scientists to increase the longevity of toad sperm and I wonder if the findings are transferable to fish.

Aquaculture
Volume 399, Number 2 (June 2013)
	Effects of aeration and antibiotics on short-term storage of Fowler’s toad (Bufo fowleri) sperm
	Authors:	Jennifer M. Germano, Lucía Arregui, Andy J. Kouba
	Author Affiliations:	no affiliations available
	Source:	Aquaculture, Volume 399, Number 2 (June 2013)
	Page Numbers:	20 – 24
	Available Full Text:	Full Text: Subscription Required to view full text Format: PDF Size: Unknown Location: Publisher’s Site Authentication: Publisher’s Site
	Abstract:	The importance of developing assisted reproductive technologies (ART) for captive assurance colonies of threatened amphibians is increasing as ex situmanagement of amphibians has been challenged with low reproductive outputs for some species. One hurdle to developing ART in amphibians is the short-term storage of gametes for in vitrofertilization. This study tested the application of two common aquaculture techniques, aeration or the addition of antibacterial solutions, to spermic urine to determine if this would improve the longevity and quality of non-invasively collected sperm samples using hormone therapy. Spermic urine samples were collected non-invasively from Fowler’s toads (Bufo fowleri) and either left alone, aerated for 30min a day, or treated with penicillin–streptomycin. All samples were kept refrigerated at 4°C. Sperm motility declined within each treatment group over time (P<0.01); however, aerated samples retained significantly greater motility (70%) during the first 24h after collection than samples in both the control (57%) and antibacterial group (51%). The addition of penicillin–streptomycin solution to spermic urine had a negative effect on viability; with significantly fewer sperm still alive 2–4days post collection (P=0.032). Sperm viability was highly correlated with motility on all days and with forward progression 1–4days post collection (P=0.002). Our results show that aerating amphibian spermic urine samples may provide a simple and low-cost method to improve sperm storage that could be used for in vitrofertilization and ex situmanagement of threatened amphibians. Antibiotics appeared to have a negative effect on sperm viability, suggesting that further research on bacterial contamination and antibiotic doses is necessary.
	Citation:	Jennifer M. Germano, Lucía Arregui, Andy J. Kouba . Effects of aeration and antibiotics on short-term storage of Fowler’s toad (Bufo fowleri) sperm. Aquaculture, Volume 399, Number 2 (June 2013), pp. 20-24, <http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=44A386C579E93ABB4F5D&gt;
	URL:	http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=44A386C579E93ABB4F5D