A Tough Egg to Crack

Snail eggs after 30 minutes (left) and 12 hours (right) in the CO2 solution.

Eggs proved to be another matter altogether. 

While the snails lost most of their color over a 30-minute treatment, (Snail Eggs-30 Minutes of Reverse Respiration) the embryos were still alive and in motion within the egg although their motion slowed considerably.

However eggs subjected to only 30 minutes of Reverse Respiration proved in-viable. 

The snail egg on the left survived 30 minutes in the CO2 solution but lost most of its coloration, and according to the study cited below, is likely sterile (a study done in 2000 by the University of Miyazaki in Japan had demonstrated that nematode eggs subjected to 20% lower of oxygen levels than normal atmospheric levels for just 4 hours became nonviable despite the still living embryo).

However, the snail egg on the right was identical but was killed by 12 hours of asphyxiation in the CO2 solution. 

Our intention was then to incubate the discolored eggs and watch for hatching. However, we found the 12-hour cycle of the CO2 solution followed by just 30 minutes in aerated water (the “O2 cycle”) resulted in 100% expiration of all eggs and circumvented the need to do so.

12 hours of CO2 solution effected 100% egg elimination: Microscope images of treated snail eggs. Note the internal fluid exits the dissolving egg on the left, leaving visible ripple patterns as the fluid leaked over the slide. Similarly on the right, we saw the embryo begin to dissolve and leak well into the egg.

Although algae were not a component in this test originally, when we observed Reverse Respiration’s tangential effects as an algicide, we extended the tests to explore any parallelism amongst the egg and algae expiration, as they reacted quite similarly.