The cryobanks of agouti somatic tissues represent a promising tool for the conservation of this species and of those that are phylogenetically related and endangered. For these purposes, one strategy to guarantee the quality of samples after warming would be to choose the appropriate tissue vitrification technique. Therefore, we evaluated the effects of two different techniques, direct vitrification in cryovials (DVC) and solid-surface vitrification (SSV), on the preservation of ear somatic tissues derived from agoutis kept in a scientific center of creation. Noncryopreserved somatic tissues were used as controls. Although SSV reduced the thickness of the dermis and cartilage ( p < 0.05), the epidermal thickness of these samples was observed to be similar to controls ( p > 0.05). Notably, the number of fibroblasts was not altered with either technique. However, both vitrification methods led to an increase in the number of perinuclear halos, with a particularly strong increase observed in DVC-derived fragments ( p < 0.05). Compared with the DVC group, SSV showed a larger number of normal chondrocytes and smaller number of degenerate chondrocytes. Furthermore, the number of empty lacunae in SSV-derived fragments remained similar to controls ( p > 0.05). In summary, SSV was found to be a more efficient method for vitrifying agouti somatic tissues compared with DVC. These results are important for the proper formation of agouti somatic banks, an essential step in the study of biological resources in this species.

Methods for seminal plasma (SP) removal and the selection of collared peccary sperm for fertilization were compared. The experiments evaluated the following: the (I) impact of centrifugation for SP removal before swim-up for sperm selection and (II) a comparison of different Percoll^® gradient densities (PG 45–90% and PG 35–70%). Non-selected sperm served as the control. Sperm quality was assessed based on motility patterns, morphology, membrane functional integrity, viability, reactive oxygen species (ROS), glutathione (GSH), and DNA integrity. Subsequently, the most successful group in the previous experiment and washing by centrifugation (WC) were compared for motility patterns and fertilization using pig oocytes. Swim-up decreased motility and enhanced ROS compared to the control. Centrifugation before swim-up harmed integrity and viability compared to the control. PG 45–90% (96.8 vs. 69.7 vs. 40.7 µm/s) allowed for a better velocity average pathway (VAP), a better velocity straight line, and better linearity (LIN) than those of the control and PG 35–70% (88.4 vs. 56.0 vs. 27.3 µm/s). Thus, PG 45–90% was used for fertilization. PG 45–90% obtained a higher VAP, a higher amplitude of the lateral head, straightness, and higher LIN than those of the control and WC. Cleavage (25.2–26.3%) and morula (8.1–10.5%) rates did not differ between the groups. Therefore, PG 45–90% and WC were efficient in isolating collared peccary sperm capable of fertilizing pig oocytes.