CONTENTS OF SOME MINERAL ELEMENTS IN COYPU SEMEN

The objective of an experiment was to determine concentrations of Ca, P, Mg, Na, K, Fe, Zn and Cu in the semen of male coypu. The experiment was conducted on coypu males of different mutations at the age of nin e months: standard - 9 males, Greenlandic - 10 males, silver - 10 male s, white - 10 males, golden - 4 males. Semen was collected by electroe jaculation under halothane anesthesia. Concentrations of mineral eleme nts were determined by atomic absorption spectral photometry on a JUNI CAM 939 apparatus. There were three measurements of every sample follo wed by mathematico-statistical processing of data. Average contents of mineral elements in coypu semen (g/kg dry matter): Ca 0.2624 +/- 0.02 2, P 2.1333 +/- 0.168, Mg 1.4556 +/- 0.070, Na 0.2944 +/- 0.015, K 1.0 592 +/- 0.114, Fe 3.4697 +/- 0.904, Zn 15.3926 +/- 1.315, Cu 0.5992 +/ - 0.093. Contents of zinc (9.2258-29.8105 g/kg dry matter), iron (2.11 52-6.4436 g/kg) and phosphorus (1.8026-2.6751 g/kg) were highest in ma le coypu semen. Statistically significant differences between the geno types were observed in Zn and Cu concentrations only. Contents of the particular mineral elements and their relationships (correlations) in male coypu semen are homogeneous.