Author Interview: Pogonias courbina sperm characteristcs in its first reproductive season

PeerJ spoke to Jhony Lisboa Benato, at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul about the recently published PeerJ Life & Environment article Pogonias courbina sperm characteristcs in its first reproductive season. The article was published as part of the IABO Hub. The IABO Hub is the publishing home of the International Association for Biological Oceanography, and features the latest biological oceanography research published by the members of IABO.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

My name is Jhony Lisbôa Benato, I’m an Agronomist graduated from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS-Brazil), and I’m currently doing a master’s degree there. I work with fish reproduction, conservation, and in the development of germplasm banks since 2017 at the AQUAM Laboratory.

Can you briefly explain the research you published in PeerJ?

The research emerged from a partnership with researchers from the Federal University of Rio Grande (FURG-Brazil), who started work with P. courbina, a native and endangered species. We carried out the first sperm collections of the species, for the evaluation of sperm parameters related to fish reproduction. We performed the characterization of sperm kinetics, morphology, morphometry and membrane integrity, and identified the correlation between them.

What did you discover and where?

We found that the animals we analyzed (2-years old), still have characteristics that indicate that they have not reached full reproductive maturity, in addition to identifying the pattern of sperm motility and morphometry for the species. We also verified that the presence of spermatozoa abnormality impaired their movement.

What was significant about your findings?

We verified the occurrence of a phenomenon that we had not yet observed in the fish species with which we had already worked. In this species, sperm activation occurred progressively over a long period of time, and the semen continued to show sperm motility even 1 day after collection, without refrigeration. In addition, our results will help to develop a sperm cryopreservation protocol for the species, an important process to assist in its conservation. This is work that we are already developing.

How did you first hear about PeerJ, and what persuaded you to submit to us?

I had already found other articles published in the journal during some literature reviews. When we heard about the 10-year celebration, we took the opportunity to submit this work.

How was your experience publishing an article in the IABO hub?

The process was very intuitive, and when adjustments were needed, the journal’s editors and assistants were very proactive and helped in the process.

Anything else you would like to add?

We would like to thank the journal for the opportunity to publicize our work and say that we are open to partnerships for the development of work with gamete cryopreservation and conservation of endangered species.

Some morphological abnormalities of Pogonias courbina sperm.