The Relationship between Oxygen Consumption Rate and Hatching in Fundulus heteroclitus

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Abstract
Low environmental oxygen stimulates hatching in teleosts and amphibians. Our experiments show that hatching does not occur when oxygen is supplied at a rate that meets the respiratory demands of the embryo and, conversely, that hatching does occur when the metabolic rate of the embryo exceeds a limit set by the diffusion of oxygen through the water column. A mathematical model of oxygen diffusion indicates that a gradient exists such that the concentration of oxygen at the respiratory surface is less than that needed to saturate the blood. Hatching is stimulated when the growing respiratory demand of the embryo creates a hypoxic condition in the microenvironment surrounding the egg.