title: Gender and gonadal maturity stage identification of captive Chinese sturgeon, Acipenser sinensis, using ultrasound imagery and sex steroids.
abstract: Long lifespan and late maturation make it difficult to establish gamete maturity and breeding age of captive endangered Chinese sturgeon, Acipenser sinensis. This greatly handicaps timely breeding and future conservation stocking efforts. We used ultrasound imagery and sex steroids to determine the gender and gonadal maturity stage of captive Chinese sturgeon (age, 10-17years old). The echogenicity of the reproductive organs and the respective morphology of the gonads were described and two quantitative parameters po(proportion of the ovary to the entire reproductive organs) and d (thickness of the reproductive organs) were measured to characterize sex and maturity stage of Chinese sturgeon. Females were accordingly placed fish into several categories: FII(FII-, FII, FII+), FIII(FIII, FIII+) and FIV(FIV, FIV+) and FVIand males as MII, MIII, MIV, MVand MVI. The accuracy of gender and maturity stage determination provided by ultrasonographic methods was 72.7% for FII-ovary (n=11) and 76.2% for MIItestis (n=42). Accuracy of sex and maturity determination using only serum sex steroid of testosterone (T) and estradiol-17β (E2) was low (58-73%, depending on maturity stage). However, when the two methods were used together, accuracy increased sharply, especially for immature (II stage) females. In summary, of 151 Chinese sturgeon, whose sex and maturity stage were independently confirmed, 88.1% (n=133), 62.9% (n=95), and 96.7% (n=146) were successfully sexed and staged using ultrasound, sex steroids, or both methods, respectively. The results provide reliable non-invasive techniques for determining sex and gonadal maturation of captive Chinese sturgeon. These methods can track individual gonad characteristics over multi-year reproductive cycles, which will assist captive broodstock management, artificial reproduction, and future conservation stocking.
authors: Key Laboratory of Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation, Ministry of Agriculture of China, Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Wuhan 430223, China.
authors: Hao
authors: H
authors: Du
authors: Beijing Aquarium, Beijing Xinwoda Marine Technology Co. Ltd, Beijing 100081, China.
authors: Xiaoyan
authors: X
authors: Zhang
authors: Key Laboratory of Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation, Ministry of Agriculture of China, Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Wuhan 430223, China.
authors: Xiaoqian
authors: X
authors: Leng
authors: Key Laboratory of Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation, Ministry of Agriculture of China, Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Wuhan 430223, China.
authors: Shuhuan
authors: S
authors: Zhang
authors: Key Laboratory of Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation, Ministry of Agriculture of China, Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Wuhan 430223, China.
authors: Jiang
authors: J
authors: Luo
authors: Key Laboratory of Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation, Ministry of Agriculture of China, Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Wuhan 430223, China.
authors: Zhigang
authors: Z
authors: Liu
authors: Key Laboratory of Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation, Ministry of Agriculture of China, Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Wuhan 430223, China.
authors: Xingmei
authors: X
authors: Qiao
authors: University of Massachusetts, Environmental Conservation Department, Amherst, MA 01003, United States.
authors: Boyd
authors: B
authors: Kynard
authors: Key Laboratory of Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation, Ministry of Agriculture of China, Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Wuhan 430223, China. Electronic address: weiqw@yfi.ac.cn.
authors: Qiwei
authors: Q
authors: Wei
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004958:Estradiol / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005399:Fishes / Q000097:blood / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D010053:Ovary / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D012098:Reproduction; D012732:Sex Determination Analysis; D012741:Sexual Maturation / Q000502:physiology*; D013737:Testis / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood; D014463:Ultrasonography
chemical_list: D013739:Testosterone; D004958:Estradiol
keywords: Chinese sturgeon; Estradiol-17β; Sex steroid; Sturgeon maturity stage; Testosterone; Ultrasound