Meeting Abstract

P3.29  Tuesday, Jan. 6  Hatchling shell content and grownth in an anoxia-intolerant species of turtle, Red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta) REESE, S. A.; BLACK, P.*; ADAIR, E.; KOETHER, M.; Kennesaw State University; Kennesaw State University; Kennesaw State University; Kennesaw State University sreese3@kennesaw.edu

Adult aquatic turtles usually spend the winter months submerged underwater to escape freezing temperatures. In northern lattitudes, this can lead to long months without access to air as the surface waters freeze. If O₂ is available in the water, aquatic turtles utilize various extrapulmonary routes to extract oxygen from the water. However, in some hibernacula, there is little (hypoxia) to no (anoxia) O₂ available in the water. Some species of turtles (anoxia-tolerant), namely painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) and common snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) can survive these prolonged bouts of anoxic submergence by buffering metabolic acid end-products using calcium and magnesium carbonates stored in their bone, particularly their shell. Other species (anoxia-intolerant) do not have this capacity and must avoid hibernacula that might become anoxic to survive the winter months. Hatchling turtles of all species studied to date are born with low bone content and low buffer stores. As such, these animals will have a reduced capacity to survive harsh winters unless they quickly accumulate the buffers necessary or avoid those hibernacula likely to become anoxic. We analyzed hatchling Red-eared slider turtles (an anoxia-intolerant species) for shell bone content. We measured [Ca²⁺], [Mg²⁺], [K⁺], [Na⁺], and [CO₂] to determine if the hatchlings for these animals start out similarly to other species. We hypothesized that hatchling Red-eared slider turtles would lack sufficient bone content and buffer stores after hatching to withstand entry into a hypoxic or anoxic environment. We compared these results to hatchlings of known anoxia-tolerant and anoxia-intolerant species as well as to adult painted turtle shell content.