The sperm motility in marine teleosts as a tool to evaluate the toxic effects of xenobiotics

The possibility of using the sperm of teleosts as a model system for ecotoxicological assessments has been explored by evaluating sperm motility parameters: (1) time to reach the maximum motility value (activation time), (2) maximum motility value, (3) duration of maximum motility value, and (4) total time of motility (until class 0). Sperm of Dicentrarchus labrax, Sparus aurata, Diplodus puntazzo and Pagellus erythrinus were analysed and compared. The effects of dimethylsulfoxide, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, glycerol and methanol on sperm motility in these marine species were investigated. Among the systems tested, sperms of S. aurata and D. labrax were the most sensitive to the tested xenobiotics and S. aurata spermatozoa were shown to be easier to manage for ecotoxicological assays.