Can artificial reproduction strategies (hormonal type and dose/thermal regime) affect gamete quality in indoor-reared pikeperch (Sander lucioperca)?

The present study aimed at evaluating the effects of different thermal regimes and synthetic hormones on sperm quality as well two (low vs. high) salmon gonadoliberin (sGnRHa) dosages on egg quality in indoor-reared pikeperch. Two groups of females were formed receiving either 5 mu g kg(-1) or 50 mu g kg(-1) of sGnRHa. Likewise, four groups of males were formed that were hormonally treated at either 5 degrees C or 9 degrees C, and each temperature receiving either 25 mu g kg(-1) of sGnRHa or 10 mu g kg(-1) recombinant human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG(rec)). Each group consisted of five specimens. Low dosage of sGnRHa showed lower survival of embryos (17.4 +/- 29.1% vs. 50.3 +/- 7.3%), while there were no differences in sperm quality parameters among the male groups. Overall, best male performance was seen in the group injected with sGnRHa at 9 degrees C, having the greatest values for all but one of the evaluated parameters. A higher dosage of 50 mu g kg(-1) can be supported as optimal for a stable thermal regime in pikeperch artificial reproduction, while the differences in the physiological state of breeders under the different thermal regimes should be of interest in future studies. No differences in assessed sperm quality parameters indicate that males are tolerant to thermal manipulations while synthetic form of gonadotropin is applicable for pikeperch propagation and should be evaluated in a more comprehensive study.

Automated summary

The present study evaluated the effects of different thermal regimes and synthetic hormones on sperm and egg quality in indoor-reared pikeperch. The results showed that higher dosage of synthetic hormones and higher temperature had positive effects on pikeperch artificial reproduction.