Turtle Embryos

I had the opportunity to dissect Red-Eared slider, or Trachemys scripta, eggs. Below are some embryo pictures. The eggs incubated at 29 C for no more than 11 days, or under Stage 14.

Red-eared slider turtle eggs

The eggs are fairly large. Fertilized eggs will have a white spot on the shell that should expand in size as the eggs grow. You can also candle the egg using a fiber optic light to see the blood vessels forming. After candling the egg and identifying where the embryo is growing, I perforated the shell with my forceps and cut out a circle where the embryo is.

Turtle egg

Below is a very young embryo, at just a few days old, which is undergoing somitogenesis. Segmented blocks of mesoderm can be seen on either side of the neural tube.

Anterior/rostral portion of the turtle embryo. Dorsal view.

4 day old turtle embryo. "Head" and optic placode is visible.

4 day old turtle embryo.

4 day old turtle embryo. Heart is visible.

4 day old turtle embryo.

Red-eared slider turtle embryo

Pigmented eye of a turtle embryo

8 day old turtle embryo

8 day old turtle embryo

8 day old turtle embryo

8 day old turtle embryo; tailbud and somites

Turtle embryo

All embryos were treated ethically.

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