Toxic effect of environmental acid‐stress on the sperm of a hill‐stream fish Devario aequipinnatus: A scanning electron microscopic evaluation

Abstract

Environmental stress due to acidic pH of water was found to be one of the major factors leading to toxic effects on the sperm of a hill-stream fish Devario aequipinnatus of Meghalaya, India. The Scanning Electron Microscopy of the transverse section of testes of the fish collected from its natural habitat with acidic pH (5.6-6.0) showed that the sperms were clumped together and their tails were either absent or were of extremely small length. The acrosome and midpiece were also not well differentiated. When the fingerlings from the natural habitat were reared to maturity in aquarium with water from natural habitat after changing the pH to alkaline range (8.0-8.2), the clumping of the sperm was not observed. The sperm tail was found to be well-developed along with well-differentiated acrosome and midpiece. Since the only change in the water quality parameters of the experimental aquarium as compared to those of the natural habitat was the pH, it is evident that the abnormal features of the sperm observed in fish from natural habitat is mainly because of environmental acid stress.

An electron microscopic analysis on the ultra structural abnormalities in sperm of the common carpCyprinus carpio L. inhabiting a polluted lake, Umiam (Meghalaya, India)

“…Scanning electron microscopy, due to its large depth of field and high resolving power appears to be important in studying surface ultra structural morphology and organization of the spermatozoa. Many authors could use this versatile tool with success in understanding the ultra structural morphology of sperm and other structures either in normal fish or in fish experiencing some kinds of stress (Dey et al,2009a,b; Psenicka et al,2007). The detail understanding on the cellular features of spermatozoa was possible through extensive studies involving TEM (Gusmao‐Pompiani et al,2009; Gwo et al,1995; Matos et al,1999; Pecio,2003).…”

“…Matos et al (2002) studied biflagellate spermatozoon structure of the hermaphrodite fish Satanoperca juripari . It is to be noted in this context that despite a large number of published works in the existing literature about sperm ultra structure, very few reports exist on the same topic with reference to environmental stress and pollution (Dey et al,2009a; Psenicka et al,2008). …”

The effects of elevated temperature on the sexual traits, immunology and survivorship of a tropical ectotherm

“…Blanckenhorn and Hellriegel, 2002); most other stressors have, in contrast, been shown to lead to decreased sperm length (e.g. Dey et al, 2009;Immler et al, 2010). These changes subsequently can have a significant impact on male reproductive success (Billard, 1978;Stoss, 1983;Gage et al, 2004;Alavi and Cosson, 2005).…”

Scanning Electron Microscopy of Scales and its Taxonomic Application in the Fish Genus Channa

“…It is thus concluded that there are ample opportunities in using SEM of fish scale micro structures in determining species specificity in fish for taxonomical applications and other important applications (Dey et al, 1994(Dey et al, , 2008Psenicka et al, 2008;Ravneet et al, 2009). The aforementioned structures can be resolved precisely with the help of SEM.…”