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Sperm quality of greater amberjack Seriola dumerili throughout the reproductive season and in response to GnRHa treatment with controlled release implants

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Abstract

A wild-caught stock of greater amberjack Seriola dumerili reared in sea cages in two commercial aquaculture facilities in Greece was administered gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa), loaded in controlled release implants, and was used in spawning induction experiments throughout the reproductive season. Sperm quality was evaluated using computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) before and after GnRHa administration and the extent of the spermiation period was determined. Males were in spermiation throughout the monitoring period from May 30 until July 18, at temperatures between 19 and 24 °C. However, lower sperm motility duration, density, and survival under cold storage were observed from early July onwards. Sperm quality did not recover after the end of spawning induction experiments in tanks and the return of the fish for 14–28 days to the sea cage in mid-July, which could be related to the high temperatures of this period. An improvement trend was observed in the quality of the milt collected on day 7 after a single GnRHa administration, but a significant decrease was observed on day 21 in sperm density, survival under cold storage, and straight line velocity (VSL). On the contrary, a double GnRHa administration spaced 14 days apart maintained the same sperm quality for a longer period of 29 days. Further spermiation enhancement experiments should be conducted in the future to describe in more detail the kinetics of sperm production after GnRHa therapy and its effects on sperm quality.

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The original data of the study are available on request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the staff of Argosaronikos Fishfarms SA and Galaxidi Marine Farms SA.

Funding

This study has been undertaken within the framework of the EU 7th FP project DIVERSIFY (7FP-KBBE-GA-603121) titled “Exploring the biological and socio-economic potential of new/emerging fish species for the expansion of the European aquaculture industry” awarded to Constantinos C. Mylonas.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, P.O. Box 2214, 71003 Heraklion, Crete, Greece

    Ioannis Fakriadis & Constantinos C. Mylonas

  2. Department of Biology, University of Crete, P.O. Box 2208, 71409 Heraklion, Crete, Greece

    Ioannis Fakriadis

Authors
  1. Ioannis Fakriadis
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  2. Constantinos C. Mylonas
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Contributions

Constantinos C. Mylonas designed the experiment. Material preparation and data collection were performed by Constantinos C. Mylonas and Ioannis Fakriadis. Data analysis was performed by Ioannis Fakriadis and the first draft was written by the same author. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ioannis Fakriadis.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

Ethical approval for the experiment was obtained by the relevant Greek authorities (National Veterinary Services) under the license No 255356 (ΑΔΑ: 6ΛΙ17ΛΚ-ΠΛΩ). All procedures involving animals were conducted in accordance to the “Guidelines for the treatment of animals in behavioral research and teaching” (Anonymous 1998), the Ethical justification for the use and treatment of fishes in research: an update (Metcalfe and Craig 2011), and the “Directive 2010/63/EU of the European parliament and the council of 22 September 2010 on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes” (EU 2010). The greater amberjack is classified as “Least Concern” in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (Smith-Vaniz et al. 2015).

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Fakriadis, I., Mylonas, C.C. Sperm quality of greater amberjack Seriola dumerili throughout the reproductive season and in response to GnRHa treatment with controlled release implants. Fish Physiol Biochem 47, 281–292 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-020-00910-9

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