Effects of dietary supplementation with astaxanthin and β-carotene on the semen quality of goldfish (Carassius auratus)

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of two carotenoids (astaxanthin and beta-carotene) on the sperm quality of goldfish Carassius auratus (Linnaeus, 1758). For this purpose, six diets containing concentrations of 50, 100, and 150 mg/kg of synthetic astaxanthin and beta-carotene were added to a basic carp diet. One group of fish was also fed with a control diet (no added carotenoids). Osmolality, spermatocrit value, and sperm concentration significantly increased in the treatment supplemented with 150 mg/kg of astaxanthin (296.6 +/- 1.1 mOsm/kg; 29.2 +/- 0.6%; 17.2 +/- 0.4 x 10(9) cells/mL, respectively) and beta-carotene (295.2 +/- 2.1 mOsm/kg; 32.5 +/- 1.6%; 17.9 +/- 0.5 x 10(9) cells/mL, respectively). The highest concentration of astaxanthin (10.4 +/- 1.4 mg/kg) was recorded in the treatment of A(150) (P < 0.05) and did not differ between beta-carotene treatments. The highest motility was observed in the A(150) and B-150 treatments, and the lowest was observed in the control group (P < 0.05). The artificial fertilization of the treated males with the similar females (fed with the control diet) showed that the fertilization rate in the A(150) treatments was higher than in the other treatments (P < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary supplementation with 150 mg/kg of astaxanthin improves osmolality, motility, fertilization rate, and sperm concentration. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.