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Effect of incubation temperature and substrate moisture on embryonic development, hatchling phenotypes and post-hatching growth in the Reeves’ Turtle, Mauremys reevesii

BACKGROUND: Reeves’ Turtles (Mauremys reevesii) are economically important in aquaculture in China. Understanding the effects of incubation temperature and substrate moisture on embryos and hatchlings is of great significance for improving the artificial culture of M. reevesii. However, available st...

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Autores principales: Wei, Yufeng, Gao, Yangchun, Cao, Dainan, Ge, Yan, Shi, Haitao, Gong, Shiping
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: PeerJ Inc. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7883692/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33614259
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10553
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author Wei, Yufeng
Gao, Yangchun
Cao, Dainan
Ge, Yan
Shi, Haitao
Gong, Shiping
author_facet Wei, Yufeng
Gao, Yangchun
Cao, Dainan
Ge, Yan
Shi, Haitao
Gong, Shiping
author_sort Wei, Yufeng
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Reeves’ Turtles (Mauremys reevesii) are economically important in aquaculture in China. Understanding the effects of incubation temperature and substrate moisture on embryos and hatchlings is of great significance for improving the artificial culture of M. reevesii. However, available studies have not yet determined the thermal and hydric optima for M. reevesii eggs, and the potential interaction between the two factors. METHODS: In this study, eggs of M. reevesii were incubated at five temperature levels (23, 26, 29, 32 and 35 °C, fluctuation range ± 0.5 °C). In each temperature level, there were three substrate moisture levels (1:0.5, 1:0.9 and 1:1.2, weight ratio of vermiculite to water). Thus, a total of 15 combinations of temperature and moisture were used to examine the effects of incubation temperature and substrate moisture on incubation duration, hatching success, hatchling phenotypes, post-hatching growth and hatchling survival. RESULTS: Substrate moisture did not significantly affect most development parameters (except incubation duration and carapace width of hatchlings). Eggs incubated at low moisture level (1:0.5) had a longer incubation duration and produced hatchlings with smaller carapace widths than those incubated at medium (1:0.9) or high (1:1.2) moisture levels. Incubation temperature had a significant effect on incubation duration, hatching success, hatchling phenotypes and hatchling survival. Incubation duration decreased as incubation temperature increased. Eggs incubated at 23, 26 and 29 °C showed higher hatching success than those incubated at 32 and 35 °C. Hatchlings incubated at 32 °C were smaller in body size and mass than those incubated at 23, 26 and 29 °C. At 12 months of age, incubation temperature had no long-lasting effect on body mass, but hatchlings incubated at 23 and 35 °C had lower survival rates than those incubated at 26, 29 and 32 °C. For the development of embryos and hatchlings, the interaction between incubation temperature and substrate moisture was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that incubation temperature has a significant influence on the development of embryos and hatchlings of M. reevesii, while substrate moisture only significantly affects the incubation duration and carapace width of hatchlings. The combination of an incubation temperature of 29 ± 0.5 °C and a substrate moisture level of 1:1.2 represented optimal incubation conditions in this experiment. Such incubation conditions are helpful in obtaining higher hatching success, shorter incubation duration and higher survival rates for this aquaculture species.
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spelling pubmed-78836922021-02-19 Effect of incubation temperature and substrate moisture on embryonic development, hatchling phenotypes and post-hatching growth in the Reeves’ Turtle, Mauremys reevesii Wei, Yufeng Gao, Yangchun Cao, Dainan Ge, Yan Shi, Haitao Gong, Shiping PeerJ Zoology BACKGROUND: Reeves’ Turtles (Mauremys reevesii) are economically important in aquaculture in China. Understanding the effects of incubation temperature and substrate moisture on embryos and hatchlings is of great significance for improving the artificial culture of M. reevesii. However, available studies have not yet determined the thermal and hydric optima for M. reevesii eggs, and the potential interaction between the two factors. METHODS: In this study, eggs of M. reevesii were incubated at five temperature levels (23, 26, 29, 32 and 35 °C, fluctuation range ± 0.5 °C). In each temperature level, there were three substrate moisture levels (1:0.5, 1:0.9 and 1:1.2, weight ratio of vermiculite to water). Thus, a total of 15 combinations of temperature and moisture were used to examine the effects of incubation temperature and substrate moisture on incubation duration, hatching success, hatchling phenotypes, post-hatching growth and hatchling survival. RESULTS: Substrate moisture did not significantly affect most development parameters (except incubation duration and carapace width of hatchlings). Eggs incubated at low moisture level (1:0.5) had a longer incubation duration and produced hatchlings with smaller carapace widths than those incubated at medium (1:0.9) or high (1:1.2) moisture levels. Incubation temperature had a significant effect on incubation duration, hatching success, hatchling phenotypes and hatchling survival. Incubation duration decreased as incubation temperature increased. Eggs incubated at 23, 26 and 29 °C showed higher hatching success than those incubated at 32 and 35 °C. Hatchlings incubated at 32 °C were smaller in body size and mass than those incubated at 23, 26 and 29 °C. At 12 months of age, incubation temperature had no long-lasting effect on body mass, but hatchlings incubated at 23 and 35 °C had lower survival rates than those incubated at 26, 29 and 32 °C. For the development of embryos and hatchlings, the interaction between incubation temperature and substrate moisture was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that incubation temperature has a significant influence on the development of embryos and hatchlings of M. reevesii, while substrate moisture only significantly affects the incubation duration and carapace width of hatchlings. The combination of an incubation temperature of 29 ± 0.5 °C and a substrate moisture level of 1:1.2 represented optimal incubation conditions in this experiment. Such incubation conditions are helpful in obtaining higher hatching success, shorter incubation duration and higher survival rates for this aquaculture species. PeerJ Inc. 2021-02-12 /pmc/articles/PMC7883692/ /pubmed/33614259 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10553 Text en © 2021 Wei et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
spellingShingle Zoology
Wei, Yufeng
Gao, Yangchun
Cao, Dainan
Ge, Yan
Shi, Haitao
Gong, Shiping
Effect of incubation temperature and substrate moisture on embryonic development, hatchling phenotypes and post-hatching growth in the Reeves’ Turtle, Mauremys reevesii
title Effect of incubation temperature and substrate moisture on embryonic development, hatchling phenotypes and post-hatching growth in the Reeves’ Turtle, Mauremys reevesii
title_full Effect of incubation temperature and substrate moisture on embryonic development, hatchling phenotypes and post-hatching growth in the Reeves’ Turtle, Mauremys reevesii
title_fullStr Effect of incubation temperature and substrate moisture on embryonic development, hatchling phenotypes and post-hatching growth in the Reeves’ Turtle, Mauremys reevesii
title_full_unstemmed Effect of incubation temperature and substrate moisture on embryonic development, hatchling phenotypes and post-hatching growth in the Reeves’ Turtle, Mauremys reevesii
title_short Effect of incubation temperature and substrate moisture on embryonic development, hatchling phenotypes and post-hatching growth in the Reeves’ Turtle, Mauremys reevesii
title_sort effect of incubation temperature and substrate moisture on embryonic development, hatchling phenotypes and post-hatching growth in the reeves’ turtle, mauremys reevesii
topic Zoology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7883692/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33614259
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10553
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