Sperm quality and nutritional condition related to management during prematuration ofLitopenaeus setiferus(F₀) males

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare management strategies for prematuration of the Litopenaeus setiferus male F0 generation through the combination of two factors, culture system and kind of food, measured in terms of sperm quality and the nutritional condition of shrimp. Four treatments were differentiated by culture system and feed (five replicates each). Treatments were clear water commercial pellet (CC), clear water fresh food (CF), biofloc commercial pellet (BC) and biofloc fresh food (BF). At the end of the experiment, survival, spermatic quality, circulating metabolites and prophenoloxidase (ProFO) were evaluated as immune conditions and the oxidative stress enzyme system. Total sperm concentration showed an interaction between culture system and food provided, showing higher values in CC and BF treatments and lower values in CF treatment. ProFO performed an interaction, showing higher activity in CF and BC treatments. Oxidative stress biomarkers showed significant differences (p < 0.05) in PERMANOVA related to the diet, fresh food versus commercial pellet. Data collected in this study show that optimal sperm quality in L. setiferus male prematuration is obtained when shrimp are held in clear water and fed with commercial pellets or maintained in biofloc system and fed with fresh food.

Sperm quality of Litopenaeus vannamei fed fresh or experimental food in two culture systems

“…The higher HSI, acylglycerides, and cholesterol obtained with the EP in the present study resembled results obtained in L. setiferus with commercial pellet (Barral‐Pintos & Gaxiola, 2022), but that study reported increased LPO, whereas the EP used in the present study contained vitamins sufficient to counteract this.…”

“…In seeking a diet for male shrimps, the first step was the partial substitution of fresh food with EPs (Perez‐Velazquez et al, 2003), and recently an experimental feed has achieved a performance similar to that achieved with fresh food (Ortiz‐Guillén et al, 2022). This may reflect the quantity of macronutrients, as with the optimal protein inclusion for L. setiferus (Goimier et al, 2006); nevertheless, the amount of protein is not the sole criterion since L. setiferus can have a similar sperm quality despite different protein sources with different protein contents (Barral‐Pintos & Gaxiola, 2022). In the present work the two diets, MFF and EP, differed markedly in protein content (60% and 46%), yet the sperm quality was similar between treatments.…”

“…Nutrient storage was greater with the pellet feed, with a higher proportional size of the hepatopancreas and its higher concentrations of cholesterol, acylglycerides, and bioenergetic indexes AG:P and AG:C. Acylglycerides are the more efficient energy reserves per weight unit while cholesterol is a component of cell membranes and a hormone precursor (Palacios et al, 1998; Rosas et al, 2004). Male L. setiferus with higher cholesterol concentrations in the hepatopancreas have been found to have a higher sperm count (Barral‐Pintos & Gaxiola, 2022), and the absence of cholesterol in the diet has been found to decrease the sperm count to one‐half in L. vannamei (Perez‐Velazquez et al, 2003). Although high hemolymph acylglycerides can improve female reproductive performance in L. vannamei (Arcos et al, 2003), in the present study the higher cholesterol or acylglyceride concentrations in the hepatopancreas were not related to a higher sperm count.…”

“…TAN and nitrite concentrations were measured according to the Sreekumar et al (2003) technique, adapted for the microplate reader. When the TAN or nitrite concentration reached 1 mg/mL, molasses were added to maintain a 6:1 C:N ratio as described in Barral‐Pintos and Gaxiola (2022).…”

“…Before data analysis, data normality and variance homogeneity were checked, and data that did not satisfy these requirements were processed with an extension of the Kruskal–Wallis non‐parametric test, the Scheirer‐Ray‐Hare test (Dong et al, 2004). When an interaction was detected, a post‐hoc Dunn test was performed to evaluate the differences between treatments (Barral‐Pintos & Gaxiola, 2022). All statistical analyses used a significance level of p < 0.05.…”