A Study of Major Cations, Osmotic Pressure, andpH in Seminal Components of Atlantic Salmon

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Abstract
Certain properties of semen, spermatozoa, and seminal plasma of Atlantic salmon were investigated to facilitate the development of an extender for the cryo-preservation of sperm. The seminal plasma of 10 fish had an average pH of 8.25, an osmotic pressure of 232 milliosmols, and contained 237, 86, 5.2, and 2.2 mg/100 g respectively of Na+, K+, Ca++, and Mg++. The corresponding values for spermatozoa were 84, 298, 1.5, and 18.7. Storage of semen at 2 C caused an increase of Na+and Ca++and a decrease of K+and Mg++in spermatozoa. Subsequent incubation in glucose solution did not restore ion balance in salmon spermatozoa as it did in dog spermatozoa. The results for salmon are compared with limited data for Atlantic cod.