EFFECT OF EXTENDER AND DILUTION RATIO ON THE SPERM MOTILITY, VIABILITY, AND EGGS FERTILITY OF CLARIAS BATRACHUS, LINNAEUS 1758 (PISCES: CLARIIDAE)

The study aims to determine the type of extender and the best dilution ratio for short preservation walking catfish Clarias batrachus sperm at a refrigeration temperature of 4°C. The study employed a completely randomized design with two factors, each consisting of 6 treatments and 3 replications. The experiments were divided into 2 stages: the first stage tested several types of extenders, namely tap water, Ringer’s solution, physiological solution, Alsever’s solution, urea solution, and glucose base solution, all at the same dilution level of 1:20 (sperm: extender, v/v). The second stage examined various levels of sperm dilution ratios, namely 1:10, 1:20, 1:30, 1:40, 1:50, and 1:60 (sperm: extender, v/v). The samples were stored at a refrigerated temperature of 4°C. Furthermore, motility and viability were monitored at 24-hour intervals for next 6 days, and on the final day of the experiment. The ANOVA test showed that the type of extender and dilution ratio significantly affected the motility and viability of the spermatozoa and percentage of fertilization (P < 0.05). Generally, the quality of sperm decreased after preservation for 144 hours at 4°C, but diluted with Ringer solution at a ratio of 1:40 (sperm: extender, v/v), still maintains good parameters. Therefore, it is recommended that Ringer’s solution at a dilution ratio of 1:40 is suitable for preserving walking catfish C. batrachus sperm at a refrigerated temperature of 4°C.