Morphometry of turbot spermatozoa in relation to the location and time of capture during the spawning season

Summary The aim of this study was to assess spermatozoa morphometry in turbot, Psetta maxima, a marine flatfish species acclimated to living in the brackish Baltic Sea. The fish were collected from the Gulf of Gdansk and the Pomeranian Bay, which are characterised by regional differences in abiotic factors. Spermatozoa head and midpiece measurements were significantly larger in males sampled from the Pomeranian Bay than in males from the Gulf of Gdansk (3.6 ± 0.12 vs 3.1 ± 0.08 μm2 for head area, 7.1 ± 0.14 vs 6.7 ± 0.09 μm for head perimeter, 2.3 ± 0.04 vs 2.1 ± 0.03 μm for head width, 2.0 ± 0.04 vs 1.8 ± 0.02 μm for head length, and 1.1 ± 0.06 vs 1.0 ± 0.03 μm2 for midpiece area). The results of this study suggest that the location and day of sampling have a significant impact on morphometric parameters of turbot spermatozoa in the Baltic Sea.