Effect of Storage Temperature on African Catfish (Clarias Gariepinus Burchell 1822) Milt Quality
Idahor K.O.1,Okunsebor S.A.2,Sokunbi O.A.3,Osaiyuwu O.H.3,Osayande U.D.3,Hamza J.1,Isah N.2
Citation : Idahor K.O.,et.al, Effect of Storage Temperature on African Catfish (Clarias Gariepinus Burchell 1822) Milt Quality International Journal of Innovative Studies in Aquatic Biology and Fisheries 2018, 4(1) : 7-12
African catfish (C. gariepinus) does not reproduce in captive, hence the adoption of artificial breeding strategy. This study was targeted at the possibility of storing milt at different temperatures, to ensure all-year-round breeding operation. To accomplish this aim, milt was harvested from a total of twelve African catfish and stored at three different temperatures designated as treatments T1 (26.3°C): Bench temperature (control: without refrigeration), T2 (7.42°C): Fridge temperature and T3 (1.3oC): Freeze temperature. Results indicated that the room and testes temperature values were constantly 36.4°C and 26.0°C, standard body and total body length values ranged from 42 to 43 cm and 48 to 50 cm respectively. While the papilla length value varied from 1.5 to 1.8cm, the fin length value was between 8.5 and 13.3 cm. The sperm cells concentration value was as high as 5.62 - 6.54 x 109 across the treatments and the alive sperm cells were up to 75 - 79% at 0 minute but deteriorated to as low as 1.5 - 4% at 15minutes. Though some alive and motile sperm cells were observed at 1 hour, the percentage was as low as 0.25%, suggesting that catfish milt stored without cryopreservation might not be viable in artificial breeding