Eggshell structure in Caiman latirostris eggs improves embryo survival during nest inundation

CEDILLO-LEAL, C.; SIMONCINI, M.; LARRIERA, A.; LANG, J.W.; PIÑA, C.I.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. SERIES B: BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES.

ROYAL SOC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2017 vol. 284

0962-8452

Egg inundation often results in poor hatch success in crocodilians. However,how tolerant eggs are to submergence, and/or how eggshell ultrastructuremay affect embryo survival when inundated, are not well understood. In this study, our objective was to determine if embryo survival in Caiman latirostris is affected by eggshell surface roughness, when eggs are submerged under water. Tolerance to inundation was tested early (day 30) versus late (day 60) in development, using eight clutches (four per time treatments), subdivided into four groups: rough eggshell-inundated, smooth eggshell-inundated, rough eggshell-non-inundated and smooth eggshell-non-inundated (N = 9 per clutch per treatment; 9 x 4 = 36 eggs per group). ?Rough? eggshell represented the natural, unmodified eggshell surface structure. ?Smooth? eggshell surface structure was created by mechanically sanding the natural rough surface to remove surface columnar elements and secondary layer features, e.g. irregularities that result in ?roughness?. When inundated by submerging eggs under water for 10 h at day 30, ?smooth? eggshell structure resulted in more than twice as many dead embryos (16 versus 6, smooth versus rough; N = 36), and more than half as many healthy embryos (6 versus 13, smooth versus rough, respectively; N = 36). By contrast, at day 60, inundation resulted in very low hatching success, regardless of eggshell surface structure. Only two hatchlings survived the inundation, notably in the untreated group with intact, rough eggshells. Inundation produced a high rate of malformations (58% at day 30), but did not affect hatchling size. Our results indicate that eggshell roughness enhances embryo survival when eggs are inundated early in development, but not late in development. Apparently, the natural surface ?roughness? entraps air bubbles at the eggshell surface during inundation, thereby facilitating gas exchange through the eggshell even when the egg is submerged under water.