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.
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26 October 2021
Egg viability of green turtles nesting on Raine Island, the world's largest nesting aggregation of green turtles
David T. Booth,
Andrew Dunstan,
Katharine Robertson,
Jamie Tedeschi
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Australian Journal of Zoology
Vol. 69 • No. 1
December 2021
Vol. 69 • No. 1
December 2021
egg fertility
egg viability
embryo mortality
green turtle
hatching success
incubation
marine turtle