title: Sperm abnormalities in silver fox (Vulpes vulpes) semen selected for artificial insemination.
abstract: Sperm morphology was examined in fresh ejaculates accepted for insemination. The material included 161 ejaculates of 36 male silver foxes. Samples were fixed, stained with eosin/nigrosin and evaluated microscopically. The abnormal spermatozoa were categorized by the location of the defect. The mean (+/- SD) percentage of morphologically normal spermatozoa was 87.55 +/- 10.45. The incidence of sperm defects was low and variation high in all defect classes. Defects of tails of spermatozoa accounted for > 50% of the abnormalities found. Morphological quality did not correlate with the volume of the sperm-rich fraction, mass activity, progressive motility, or total sperm count in ejaculates of acceptable sperm quality. The incidence and effects of morphological defects in low-quality semen remain to be studied.
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Research Station, University of Kuopio, Finland.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jalkanen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005589:Foxes / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D007315:Insemination, Artificial / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000648:ultrastructure