Ovarian fluid: Its role in fertilization

Abstract

FISH-CULTURISTs, in general, do not agree as to the time of actual fertilization of artificially spawned salmonid eggs. Some fish-culturists believe that the eggs are fertilized in the milt before water is added, while others are equally certain that fertilization is not achieved until after water is added. This difference of opinion has probably existed since the advent of the dry spawning method, in which milt is added to the eggs without the presence of water in the spawning pan. According to the "Manual of Fish-Culture" published by the U. S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries in 1900, it was known that eggs and milt from salmon maintain their viability for many hours if held in open containers, that both eggs and milt soon lose their viability when water is added, and that the milt and fluid around the eggs can be "utilized in impregnating masses of eggs when there is a scarcity of males, as sometimes occurs toward the close of the spawning season." The object of the studies reported here was to confirm some of the foregoing observations and to determine whether salmonid eggs could be fertilized without the supportive action of water.