Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2025:240:203-279.
doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-70126-9_5.

Bull Sperm Abnormalities in Practice

Albert Barth  1 , Viv E A Perry  2 , Lauren E Hamilton  3 , Peter Sutovsky  4 , Richard Oko  5
Affiliations
Review

Bull Sperm Abnormalities in Practice

Albert Barth et al. Adv Anat Embryol Cell Biol. 2025.

Abstract

In this chapter we discuss spermatozoal abnormalities which are associated with reduced bull fertility in practice as assessed by published case studies or research experiments. Each abnormality follows the standardized form found in Chap. 9 . An initial summary of the abnormality is given including the suggested tolerated threshold for the abnormality in an ejaculate. This is followed by detail of research into the abnormality and its associated affect upon fertility in the bull. Images of the abnormalities are presented and the reader is further directed to photomicrographs of Chap. 4 where appropriate.

Keywords: Abaxial tails; Abnormal DNA condensation; Azoospermia; Coiled principal piece; Corkscrew defect; Dag defect; Decapitated sperm; Detached heads; Distal reflex midpiece; Knobbed acrosomes; Microcephalic heads macrocephalic heads; Multinuclear-multiflagellar; Nuclear vacuoles; Oligospermia; Pale centres; Proximal droplets; Pseudodroplet; Pyriform heads; Rolled nuclear crest; Ruffled plasmalemma and acrosome; Segmental aplasia; Short tail defect; Sperm accumulation.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Agarwal A, Nallella K, Allamaneni S, Said T (2004) Role of antioxidants in treatment of male infertility: an overview of the literature. Reprod Biomed Online 8(6):616–627 - PubMed
    1. Alun Jones W (1962) Abnormal Morphology of the Spermatozoa in Guernsey Bulls. British Veterinary Journal 118(6). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0007-1935(17)43005-3
    1. Amann R, Seidel G, Mortimer R (2000) Fertilizing potential in vitro of semen from young beef bulls containing a high or low percentage of sperm with a proximal droplet. Theriogenology 54(9):1499–1515 - PubMed
    1. Andersson M, Peltoniemi O, Makinen A, Sukura A, Rodriguez—Martinez H (2000) The Hereditary ‘Short Tail’ Sperm Defect—A New Reproductive Problem in Yorkshire Boars. Reprod Domest Anim 35(2):59–63. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1439-0531.2000.00196.x
    1. Andersson M, Vierula M, Alanko M (1990) Three types of acrosomal aberrations of bull spermatozoa and their relation to fertility. Acta Vet Scand 31(2):175–179 - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources