Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations cyprinid eggs survive inside migratory waterfowl

https://www.pnas.org/content/117/27/15397

Though in low numbers, the study proves that under favorable conditions it is possible for fish eggs to survive passing through the digestive systems of waterfowl

Very interesting!!!

Thanks for posting it!

Great find!!! It looks like they tried it on carp with 0.2% survival rate. But 0.2% survival starting from 10,000 eggs is plenty of carp to ruin your day. I wonder if there is some evolutionary advantage at play here. It would be quite advantageous for the carp to be able to do this as well as to the bird species. Kind of like the way herbivores also spread the seeds of forage species in their dung.

That's why all my fence rows grow mulberry trees.

You'd think that there is a possibility for open water spawners and shallow water spawners to have their eggs picked up by waterfowl and carried along to other bodies of water. Open water spawn eggs are blown to shallows by wind, dabbling ducks inadvertently eat the eggs while foraging shallows. Ducks visit several bodies of water a day depositing eggs that have a slight chance to develop into swimming fish. It is an interesting experiment

Does anyone know how Cyprinid eggs compare to Centrarchidae in terms of hardiness? Maybe Cyprinids have some form of adaptation where their eggs are resistant to the digestive acids of waterfowl where as other fish do not. Idk just thinking aloud


Theo thats why wood edges are full of poke weed and black raspberries haha

Thank you for posting!

Thanks for posting. I've been a naysayer on this for years. Now, we just have to ask what are the odds in a given pond. Interesting stuff. I tried to replicate this years ago. I bought a duck at the local flea market; killed it and drug feathers and feet through bluegill nests. Then "washed" them off in a small pond with no fish in it. No fish hatched/appeared but I wondered if water bugs could eat the eggs. I started to try it again in an aquarium but wanted to use pond water instead of well water. The problem there was that I really had no idea what was in pond water.

A consideration is that they say it is possible under lab conditions with a controlled environment. .

Just my opinion - Though chances are slim, i bet it does happen given the numbers of eggs and waterfowl, whether the propagation method is from pickup on legs/feathers or through the digestive tract. Turtles would be other vehicles for propagation as well since they prey heavily on fish eggs. Raccoons...the list goes on

I have personally on a regular bases watch a blue hereon puke in our pond to chum the water for the fish to come to. My son and I scared a blue hereon so bad once that he puked on the shore flying away. There was live fish flopping around on our shore. I wonder how long a live fish and survive in a blue hereon?