Sperm collection in Black-legged Kittiwakes and characterization of sperm velocity and morphology

Sperm collection in Black-legged Kittiwakes and characterization of sperm velocity and morphology

Segolene

Humann-Guilleminot[1];Pierre

Blevin[2];Antonin

Azou-Barre[1];Agathe

Yacoumas[1];Geir Wing Gabrielsen[3];Olivier Chastel[2];Fabrice Helfenstein[1];

【期刊名称】《鸟类学研究：英文版》 【年(卷),期】2019(010)001

【摘要】Background:Collecting and studying live sperm is central to many important fields of biology.Yet,a simple method to collect live sperm is lacking in wild seabird species.Here,we describe a non-invasive method to collect viable sperm samples based on a simple massage technique

applied

to

male studied

Black-legged a

colony

Kittiwakes

breeding

(Rissa

at

tridactyla).Methods:We

Kongsfjorden,Svalbard and successfully obtained sperm samples from 32 males.With a subset of samples (n = 12 males),we compared the suitability of several extenders (0.9% NaCl,PBS,Earle’s balance salt solution,Dulbecco’s modified Eagle medium) in maintaining sperm alive long enough for analyses.With another 18 ejaculates,we conducted computer assisted sperm analyses using the CASA plugin for ImageJ.We provide

details

about

the

settings

to

be

used

for

such

analyses.Lastly,droplets from 20 ejaculates were smeared on glass slides and preserved with formalin to characterize sperm morphology in terms of total sperm length,sperm head length,midpiece length and flagellum