Short Term Storage of Asian Walking Catfish (Clarias batrachus Linnaeus, 1758) Gametes

The present study was carried out to investigate the viability of gametes from Asian walking catfish (Clarias batrachus) following short-time storage under hatchery condition at room temperature (26–28°C) and at chilled temperature (2–4ºC) using a household refrigerator. Eggs stored at refrigeration for 5 min resulted in a drastic reduction of fertilization success (36%) in comparison with those stored at room temperature (86%). Eggs without water have had significantly higher successes of fertilization than those stored with water in both storage conditions. On the other hand, prolonged potency was observed for sperm stored in refrigerator than those kept outside at room temperature. Sperm kept in refrigerator with both water and dextrose solutions were consistently viable for at least 48 hours. At room temperature, however, sperm diluted with dextrose showed comparatively higher fertilization (up to 50 min, 27–98%) than sperm diluted with water (up to 10 min, 25–87%). Similar results were obtained when the whole testis was stored. Sperm–egg contact time experiment showed a quick fusion and it required only a minute to achieve 100% fertilization. The results of this study provide evidence on the short-time storage of catfish sperm that might be of relevance to hatchery operators including, for example, production of quality seeds by sacrificing less numbers of male individuals.