A comparison of Activating Solutions with Hatchery Water in Artificial Insemination of Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

In the propagation of rainbow trout, the available water supply used for incubation of fertilized egg is generally used for also spermatozoa being activated to reach eggs. The aim of the present study was to assess comparisons of the effects of two lab-made activating solutions and hatchery water on progressive sperm motility percentage (%), duration of progressive sperm motility (s), and fertilization success in artificial insemination of rainbow trout. For this purpose, an activating solution (A1) containing 60 mM NaHCO3, 50 mM Tris pH=9.0 and another activating solution (A2) containing 20 mM Tris, 30 mM glycine, 125 mM NaCl, pH=9.0, and also hatchery water (HW) were used for activation of spermatozoa and fertilization. The average motility percentages of samples activated by HW, A1 and A2 were observed >90% with no significant differences, while the durations of progressive motility were found to be significantly different as 22.5±0.7 s, 30.0±1.4 s and 30.5±0.7 s respectively. The lowest average fertilization rate (64.6±1.4 %) was obtained using HW, while those values were 89.4±5.1 and 91.3±0.6 % using A1 and A2 respectively. Consequently, both motility durations and fertilization rates obtained by using A1 and A2 were significantly higher than those values of obtained by HW