Qualitative parameters of piapara semen (Leporinus elongatus) were evaluated before and after hormonal induction with carp pituitary extract at 2.5 mg.kg-1 of live weight. The progressive motility, the spermatic vigor and the lifetime of the spermatozoa were higher before the hormonal induction (P > 0.05). The percentage of normal spermatozoa and spermatozoa with secondary pathologies did not differ (P > 0.05) between treatments: before induction (44.0 and 44.4%, respectively) and after-induction (44.3 and 46.7%, respectively). However, the percentage of primary pathologies was higher (P < 0.05) for the semen collected before induction than for the semen collected after induction; the estimates were 12.2 and 8.0%, respectively. The most frequent pathologies were the taillessness with the frequencies of 27.4 and 36.3% followed by the headlessness for which the estimates were 10.1 and 3.9%, before and after induction respectively. The semen collected before the hormonal induction presented better qualitative parameters.
spermatic cells; spermatic morphology; fish