Víztudományi és Vízbiztonsági Nemzeti Laboratórium(RRF-2.3.1-21-2022-00008) Támogató:
NKFIH
Szakterületek:
Biológiai tudományok
The dispersal of fish into distant and isolated habitats remains a topic
of continuous discussion in the field of fish biogeography. This is particularly relevant
due to the perceived limitation of fish movement to what is known as active dispersal.
Fish migration is often confined to interconnected water bodies, underscoring the
significance of dispersal for fish inhabiting isolated aquatic habitats. However,
empirical evidence for a natural (i.e. not human‐mediated) mechanism has been limited.
Here we explore and provide evidence for waterbird‐mediated endozoochory as a possible
dispersal mechanism in various fish species and families. We force‐fed mallardsAnas plathyrynchoswith
fertilised eggs of nine bony fish species, covering nine taxonomic families. We recovered
viable embryos of five fish taxa in the faeces of mallard, proving the ability of
fish eggs to survive the passing of the digestive system of waterbirds. Moreover,
the recovered eggs successfully hatched into larvae in two fish species. Taking into
the flight speed and numerosity of mallards, as well as the high abundance of fish
eggs, our results highlight endozoochory of fish eggs by waterbirds as a possible
significant, although likely rare natural dispersal mechanism that can occur across
more species than previously known in freshwater fish.
