Abstract
Viability was determined for oyster spermatozoa maintained in salt water for extended periods after activation and for spermatozoa exposed to thermal and chemical stress. Determinations were based on methods that employ motile gametes and gametes in which eosin-nigrosin stain is repelled as estimates of viability. Motility of spermatozoa maintained in salt water at 25C diminished from 90% to 10% at 173 h after activation. Number of unstained gametes decreased from 95% to 26% at 10 h after activation, and further declined to 6% at 173 h. Spermatozoa exposed to temperatures of −20, 50, and 60 C, and immersed in a phenol-formaldehyde-alcohol solution exhibited motilities of 43, 38, 11, and 7%, respectively, as compared to 90% for unstressed spermatozoa. Percent of unstained gametes after exposure to the above-described stresses was 59, 31, 7, and 0%, respectively, in contrast to 93% for unstressed controls. Correlation between results generated by the motility and staining methods of estimating viability is not significant at the 0.95 probability level.
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Contribution No. 840 of the Center for Environmental and Estuarine Studies.
This study was supported, in part, by a grant entitled “Pilot Shellfish Hatchery in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay” from the Economic Development Administration of the United States Department of Commerce.
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Rose, C.D., Heath, E. Viability of American oyster,Crassostrea virginica, spermatozoa exposed to stress. Estuaries 1, 245–251 (1978). https://doi.org/10.2307/1351526
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1351526