Morphology and Morphometry of Cauda Epididymal Spermatozoa in Rattus rattus L.

Abstract

Sperm morphometry, in combination with other morphological traits and sperm parameters, can be useful for developing a fertility index. In present study various morphological and morphometric characters of cauda epididymal spermatozoa from 30 house rats were measured. About 100 spermatozoa of each rat with normal morphology and abnormalities like abnormal head, midpiece swelling, coiled tail, bent tail, detached heads and cytoplasmic droplets were counted in different fields and percentage of each was calculated. About 50 spermatozoa of each rat were measured for head length (HL), mid piece length (MPL), tail length (TL), head area (HA) and head perimeter (HP) using Magnus pro analytic software. In cauda epididymal spermatozoa of rat primary abnormalities included abnormal heads and mid piece swelling and secondary abnormalities included cytoplasmic droplet, coiled tails, bent tails, free heads. Variation among the sperm abnormalities was considerably high (>50 %). There was little variation in HL, MPL, TL, HA and HP of cauda epididymal spermatozoa of 30 rats (<13 %).