Changes from puberty to adulthood in the concentration, motility and morphology of mouse epididymal spermatozoa.

A systematic study of the concentration, motility and morphology of epididymal spermatozoa was undertaken in mice of the OF1 strain, in order to characterize the changes observed during puberty. The comparative development of these 3 parameters was followed from days 30 to 90. A detailed morphological system of classification was established covering both individual and multiple abnormalities. At puberty, the first spermatozoa to appear were few in number, showed poor motility and were extremely atypical. Subsequently, the number of atypically-shaped spermatozoa diminished, and their concentration and motility exhibited parallel increases. At 60 days, the values for these 3 parameters and the proportions of normal and abnormal spermatozoa became stable. During puberty, various forms of disruption of the midpiece as well as the presence of extremely atypical detached flagella resulted in a special pattern of sperm morphology, although all of these abnormal features disappeared at 40 days.