Aerial Respiration and Respiratory Gas Exchange Rate of Juvenile Soft-Shelled Turtle,Trionyx sinensis,Related to Temperature

Aerial resting metabolic rates V mlO2/(kg·h) and respiratory gas exchange rates RE of 20-60 g juvenile soft-shelled turtles were measured under 23℃,25℃,28℃,30℃,33℃ and 35℃.The resting metabolic rate in air had a direct ratio with temperature T(℃)and their relationship could be described as:V=8.2217×10 0.0459,R2=0.98.Q10 value was 2.5 between 23-30℃ while it was 3.4 between 30-35℃.RE decreased slowly with increasing temperature between 23-30℃,while above 30℃,a sharp decrease in RE was found.Some metabolic characters of juvenile soft-shelled turtles were discussed.