title: Respiratory physiology of fish, amphibian, and mammalian sperm.
abstract: Teleost (Liza dumerili) and toad (Xenopus laevis) sperm consume oxygen optimally at high oxygen tensions (120-150 mm Hg) close to the saturation level of the diluents. Oxygen consumption of sperm of both species declines rapidly below a pO2 of 60 mm Hg. Sperm of both species consume more oxygen per unit sperm in dilute than in dense sperm suspensions and conform to the so-called respiratory dilution effect. In contrast, ram sperm do not conform to the respiratory dilution effect and utilize oxygen with the same efficiency over a pO2 range of 4-130 mm Hg. Sperm respiration over this range of oxygen tensions was therefore linear and averaged 19 mu 10(2) X 10(-8) sperm X h-1.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005399:Fishes / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D012756:Sheep / Q000378:metabolism*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000378:metabolism*; D014982:Xenopus laevis / Q000378:metabolism*