Quality of cryopreserved salmonid semen is not affected by a 25 years storage period

Abstract

The quality of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), charr (Salvelinus umbla), and brown trout (Salmo trutta) semen cryopreserved for 25 years was compared with semen cryopreserved for <3d. Investigated quality parameters were the sperm motility rate and swimming velocity, the percentage of sperm with intact membranes, with functional mitochondria, and without oxidative damages and the fertility rate and hatching rate of eggs fertilized with cryopreserved semen. Not any of the investigated quality parameters differed between semen cryopreserved for <3d and semen cryopreserved for 25 years. The data indicate that the quality of the cryopreserved fish semen did not change in dependence of the storage period. Thus establishes the efficiency and validity of sperm cryopreservation technologies for long-term storage in cryobanks.