Meeting Abstract
In order to assess differences in the efficiency by which snapping turtle embryos convert egg content into tissue at different intervals during development, we examined changes in the lipid, protein, and energy contents of snapping turtle eggs over the course of incubation at 29 °C. Total dry content (albumen and yolk) declined throughout incubation, with the rate of increase accelerating rapidly after Day 30 and corresponding with accelerated embryonic growth. Lipid and protein consumption demonstrated different patterns, with lipid content decreasing rapidly from Day 0 to Day 16, remained relatively constant between Day 16 to Day 40, then decreasing rapidly again after Day 40. In contrast, protein content remained relatively constant through Day 30 of incubation then rapidly declined after. The energy content of the eggs decreased parallel to the decrease in total dry content, with no significant change in energy density (kJ energy/g dry mass) over the course of incubation. The amount of dry embryo mass produced per unit egg content dry mass consumed decreased as development progressed, declining from 1.06 g/g between Days 16 and 30 to 0.64 g/g between Days 40 and 50. Our findings suggest a potential trade-off between accelerated growth rate and efficiency of resource usage during development.
