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Effects of salinity and sea salt type on egg activation, fertilization, buoyancy and early embryology of European eel, Anguilla anguilla

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 February 2015

Sune Riis Sørensen ,
Ian Anthony Ernest Butts ,
Peter Munk  and
Jonna Tomkiewicz
Sune Riis Sørensen*
Affiliation:
Section for Marine Ecology and Oceanography, National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark, Jægersborg Allé 1, DK-2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark.
Ian Anthony Ernest Butts
Affiliation:
Section for Marine Ecology and Oceanography, National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark, Jægersborg Allé 1, DK-2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark.
Peter Munk
Affiliation:
Section for Marine Ecology and Oceanography, National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark, Jægersborg Allé 1, DK-2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark.
Jonna Tomkiewicz
Affiliation:
Section for Marine Ecology and Oceanography, National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark, Jægersborg Allé 1, DK-2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark.
*
All correspondence to: Sune Riis Sørensen. Section for Marine Ecology and Oceanography, National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark, Jægersborg Allé 1, DK-2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark. Tel: +45 21 31 49 83. Fax: +45 35 88 33 33. e-mail: srs@aqua.dtu.dk
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Summary

Improper activation and swelling of in vitro produced eggs of European eel, Anguilla anguilla, has been shown to negatively affect embryonic development and hatching. We investigated this phenomenon by examining the effects of salinity and sea salt type on egg dimensions, cell cleavage patterns and egg buoyancy. Egg diameter after activation, using natural seawater adjusted to different salinities, varied among female eels, but no consistent pattern emerged. Activation salinities between 30–40 practical salinity unit (psu) produced higher quality eggs and generally larger egg diameters. Chorion diameters reached maximal values of 1642 ± 8 μm at 35 psu. A positive relationship was found between egg neutral buoyancy and activation salinity. Nine salt types were investigated as activation and incubation media. Five of these types induced a substantial perivitelline space (PVS), leading to large egg sizes, while the remaining four salt types resulted in smaller eggs. All salt types except NaCl treatments led to high fertilization rates and had no effect on fertilization success as well as egg neutral buoyancies at 7 h post-fertilization. The study points to the importance of considering ionic composition of the media when rearing fish eggs and further studies are encouraged.

Keywords

Artificial fertilizationBuoyancyCortical reactionEgg qualityEgg sizePerivitelline space
Type
Research Article
Information
Zygote , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , February 2016 , pp. 121 - 138
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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