The effects of oxygen on the short-term storage of striped bass semen

The effect of different gaseous, environments on the motility of spermatozo a from striped bass Mot-one saxatilis after 2 and 48 h of storage at 3 +/- 1 degreesC was examined. Storage in a 1.5-mL polypropylene snap-cap vial ve rsus a 50-mL polystyrene tissue culture flask was also examined for any inf luence on motility. Motility declined with time within each treatment group and in comparison with the motility of freshly collected undiluted semen. After 2 It, there was no significant difference in the motility of sperm st ored under ambient air or oxygen. After 48 h, however, semen stored under a n oxygen atmosphere had a significantly (P < 0.0444) greater percentage of motile sperm (13 +/- 2.4%) than did semen stored under ambient air (9 +/- 1 .9%) or nitrogen (4 +/- 1.7%). These results suggest the importance of oxyg en to the motility of striped bass sperm stored for short periods. After bo th 2 and 48 h of storage, the percentage of motile sperm obtained from seme n stored in the 1.5-mL snap-cap vials was higher than that of sperm obtaine d from semen stored in the 50-mL tissue culture flasks in the same gaseous environment.