The objective of the present study was to determine the most suitable extender and their
respective dilution ratios for African catfish sperm for artificial induced breeding and cryopreservation
purposes. Three natural extenders were tested i.e. coconut water, sugarcane water and soybean
solutions, at three different levels of sperm to extender dilutions of 1:20, 1:30 and 1:40. While Ringer
solution was used as a control Diluted sperm were fertilized with ready isolated eggs to assess the
fertility and hatching rate at 0, 6 and 12 hour intervals. The results showed that the eggs hatched
approximately 19 to 27 hours after fertilization. In general, the fertilization and hatching rates decreased
with increasing dilution ratio. With respect to natural extenders, the coconut water showed the highest
fertility and hatching rates at 1:20 dilution ratio. Therefore, coconut water at 1:20 dilution ratio was the
optimal condition for African catfish spermatozoa among the natural extenders investigated
