Interpopulation variability urinal male sperm of the moor frog (Rana arvalis Nilsson, 1842)

Abstract

We assessed the concentration and motility of spermatozoa in native urinal sperm samples of the moor frog. Males (57 ind.) were caught in spring in three water pools different of hydrochemical composition. Samples of the urinal sperm were obtained after hormonal stimulation of animals by synthetic analogues of GRH (Surfagon). Sperm concentration was higher in amphibians from reservoirs with a background mineralization than that in other localities. The maximum marked value was 110 million per ml. It is worth noting that in this locality we observed the minimal number of motile spermatozoa in males. More than 95 % of spermatozoa in the samples studied showed motility only in situ. We very rarely observed progressive motility of spermatozoa. It is suggested that the fact is probably due to the magnitude of the osmotic pressure of the urine of animals, and can also be a consequence of parasitic infestation in male amphibians. Refs 2. Figs 2. Tables 1.