Sperm morphology, ATP content, and analysis of motility in Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus)

Spermatozoon of Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus (L., 1758))parentheses around authority and year indicate that the binomen has changed from when the taxon was first identified. Names checked against the ITIS database (www.itis.gov). is uniflagellated, lacks an acrosome, and is differentiated into a head, midpiece, and flagellum. There are two to five mitochondria in the midpiece, as well as proximal and distal centrioles. The flagellum consisted of 9 + 2 microtubules surrounded by plasma membrane, which is extended at the proximal part of the flagellum owing to the presence of vacuoles. After sperm activation in seawater, sperm motility and velocity decreased from 98.4% ± 3.4% and 170.3 ± 8.9 µm·s–1 at 15 s after sperm activation to 4.8% ± 4.7% and 9.2 ± 8.9 µm·s–1 at 120 s after sperm activation, respectively. ATP content (nmol·L–1 ATP per 108 spermatozoa) significantly decreased at 60 s after sperm activation (5.9 ± 1.5) compared with at 0 and 30 s after sperm activation (14.9 ± 1.5 and 14.5 ± 1.5, respectively). Beating waves propagated along the full length of the flagellum after sperm activation, whereas waves were restricted to the proximal section during the latter motility period. Wave amplitude significantly decreased at 45 s after sperm activation, but wavelength did not differ. The present study showed associations among sperm morphology, ATP content, flagellar wave parameters, and sperm velocity, which could be used in comparative spermatology.