The validation of an ovarian biopsy method for in vivo assessment of oocyte maturation in Centropomus parallelus was studied. Diameters of intra-ovarian oocytes siphoned with cannula were analyzed fresh and preserved with 1% formalin in 0.7% NaCl solution. Oocytes in different stages were present along the ovaries, up to the tertiary yolk globule stage, which had a unimodal diameter frequency distribution. The oocyte diameter means were not significantly different at four sites along the ovaries (P > 0.05). Samples obtained with cannula were representative of the ovary central portion, in vivo and in vitro samples of the seven females examined were not significantly different (P > 0.05). An estimate of the coefficient of variation corrected for bias (P < 0.05) for 8 repeated in vivo samples was 1.9 ± 0.6. The results demonstrated that for the species, the biopsy method was satisfactory, providing representative samples of the ovaries.
Ovarian Biopsy; Fat Snook; Centropomus parallelus
