Characterization of ejaculates from crossbreed male goats raised in tropical environment Caracterização dos ejaculados de caprinos mestiços criados em ambiente tropical

59 Summary: Seminal attributes are affected by many factors, including breed, body weight, age, management, climatic conditions, nutrition, method of semen collection and degree of sexual stimulation. Seventeen crossbreed male goats raised in an intensive system, and individually penned, ventilated and fed according to the NRC guidelines, were utilized. Ejaculates were evaluated based on qualitative and quantitative traits. Correlations among these traits and sperm concentration were also calculated in dry and rainy seasons. Ejaculates were collected and evaluated for volume, aspect, color, mass motility, morphological defects, sperm concentration, sperm motility, vigor and morphological defects. The effects of animal, season, aspect, color and the animal/season interaction were analyzed by ANOVA. The individual sperm concentration, total of sperm per ejaculate, mass motility, and ejaculated volume may change with season, aspect and color of the ejaculate. The highest correlation was obtained between ejaculate volume and total number of sperm per ejaculate in both seasons. Other significant correlations were observed, therefore, they were moderate or low.