Meeting Abstract

P2.145  Wednesday, Jan. 5  Stress, Reproduction and Adrenal Modulation in the red-ear slider turtle LEE, Jennifer E. ; Southeastern Louisiana University jennifer.lee-3@selu.edu

Adrenal modulation is the change in amount and rate of release of glucocorticoids from the adrenal gland in vertebrates in response to stressors. Effects of adrenal modulation include initiation of escape behavior, increased carbohydrate metabolism and suppression of reproduction. This study aims to determine if red-ear slider turtles (Trachemys scripta) exhibit adrenal modulation. Turtles were caught monthly and blood samples taken via subcarapacial puncture. Monthly sampling was conducted to determine basal corticosterone concentration and stress immobilization was utilized during seven separate months of the year (pre-breeding, breeding and post-breeding) to determine corticosterone’s time course. During these two-hour periods of stress immobilization corticosterone was measured at four different times to determine if adrenal output is affected by reproductive status. Corticosterone concentrations were measured by an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and data analyzed using an ANOVA and stress data was analyzed with a repeated measure ANOVA. The preliminary results indicate that during the month of June basal concentration is significantly lower with respect to the rest of the year and in the months of March and July the basal levels are significantly higher. There also seems to be a significant decrease in corticosterone output when faced with immobilization during the month of February. A brief mention will also be made to the effectiveness of immobilization methods used in this study.