2 research outputs found
Experimental evidence of dispersal of invasive cyprinid eggs inside migratory waterfowl
Fish have somehow colonized isolated water bodies all over the
world without human assistance. It has long been speculated that
these colonization events are assisted by waterbirds, transporting
fish eggs attached to their feet and feathers, yet empirical support
for this is lacking. Recently, it was suggested that endozoochory
(i.e., internal transport within the gut) might play a more
important role, but only highly resistant diapause eggs of killifish
have been found to survive passage through waterbird guts. Here,
we performed a controlled feeding experiment, where developing
eggs of two cosmopolitan, invasive cyprinids (common carp,
Prussian carp) were fed to captive mallards. Live embryos of both
species were retrieved from fresh feces and survived beyond
hatching. Our study identifies an overlooked dispersal mechanism
in fish, providing evidence for bird-mediated dispersal ability of
soft-membraned eggs undergoing active development. Only 0.2%
of ingested eggs survived gut passage, yet, given the abundance,
diet, and movements of ducks in nature, our results have major
implications for biodiversity conservation and invasion dynamics
in freshwater ecosystems.Peer reviewe