88-6 Sat Jan 2 First collection and characterization of semen in a West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus) Cowart, JR*; Collins, DM; Mignucci-Giannoni, AA; Alejandro-Zayas, T; Rivera-Guzman, AL; Larkin, IV; Aquatic Animal Health Program, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL; Department of Animal Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL; Caribbean Manatee Conservation Center, Inter American University of Puerto Rico, Bayamon, PR; Caribbean Manatee Conservation Center, Inter American University of Puerto Rico, Bayamon, PR; Caribbean Manatee Conservation Center, Inter American University of Puerto Rico, Bayamon, PR; Aquatic Animal Health Program, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL jrc8462@ufl.edu
While the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus) is one of the most well-studied sirenian species, there is limited information on many aspects of male reproductive physiology. Currently, no information on semen parameters exists in this species. Therefore, the aim of the study was to characterize semen parameters of ejaculates collected from a single West Indian manatee. A total of seven ejaculates were analyzed for the following parameters: volume, agglutination, pH, osmolality, viscosity, concentration, total sperm number, motility and kinematic parameters, morphology, plasma membrane integrity, acrosome integrity, chromatin condensation, and chromatin maturation. Of the samples, total and progressive motility were highest for ejaculates 2 to 5, exceeding 97% and 89%, respectively, but decreased in ejaculates 6 and 7. Sperm characteristics, including acrosome integrity (79.8%), chromatin condensation (93.1%), and chromatin maturation (99.5%) were high; however, large numbers of morphologically abnormal sperm were present (52.9%) and plasma membrane integrity was low (45.1%). While interpretation of the data is limited due to sample size, these results are the first of their kind for this species and provide preliminary insight into the reproductive physiology of male West Indian manatees.
