Egg viability of green turtles nesting on Raine Island, the world’s largest nesting aggregation of green turtles
David T. Booth
A * , Andrew Dunstan B , Katharine Robertson B and Jamie Tedeschi A C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld 4072, Australia.
B Queensland Government Department of Environment and Science, Brisbane, Qld 4000, Australia.
C Multi-School, Faculty of Science, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, Australia.
Australian Journal of Zoology 69(1) 12-17 https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO21024
Submitted: 11 June 2021 Accepted: 15 September 2021 Published: 26 October 2021
© 2021 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing
Abstract
Egg inviability at oviposition is a possible explanation for the high rate of early-stage embryo death of eggs laid by green turtles at Raine Island, the largest green turtle nesting aggregation in the world. We tested this possibility by assessing egg viability of freshly laid eggs. We found that green turtle eggs laid at Raine Island have high viability at their time of laying, and that there was no relationship between egg viability and early-stage embryo death or hatching success within a clutch. Hence, the inviable egg at oviposition hypothesis cannot explain the high death rate of early-stage embryos that is characteristic of green turtle clutches laid at Raine Island.
Keywords: egg fertility, embryo mortality, egg viability, green turtle, hatching success, incubation, marine turtle, Raine Island.
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