title: Morphological abnormalities of rabbit spermatozoa studied by scanning electron microscope and quantified by light microscope.
abstract: Rabbit spermatozoa morphological abnormalities were examined to establish criteria for judging the quality of ejaculates. Ten New Zealand White bucks, aged 9 months and weighing 4.3 +/- 0.2 kg, were placed in a climatic chamber for 3 weeks at +20 degrees C and 70% RH. Sperm was collected three times a week using an artificial vagina. The use of a scanning electron microscope (from x 2000 to x 15,000) in this study produced an illustrated guide for the classification of abnormalities. Mean percentage quantitative values studied by light microscope (x 400) observation were: 18.2% total abnormalities, 2.9% head abnormalities, 13.6% tail abnormalities and 1.7% broken spermatozoa. Variability was very high (CV 35.7, 54.0, 45.3 and 32.5%, respectively); consequently, each ejaculate should be analysed before use for artificial insemination. Among the different tail abnormalities observed, the most frequent were coiled tails, 9.1%, cytoplasmic droplets, 2.4%, bent tails, 1.3% and swollen tails, 0.5%.
authors.affiliation: Unconventional Rabbit-Breeding Experimental Centre, Animal Husbandry Institute, Viterbo, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kuzminsky
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Fausto
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Morera
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D008297:Male; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D011817:Rabbits; D013082:Sperm Tail / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000648:ultrastructure*