Home » Science » Fish eggs can survive and hatch after passing through a duck, providing one explanation of how seemingly pristine, isolated bodies of water can become stocked with fish

Fish eggs can survive and hatch after passing through a duck, providing one explanation of how seemingly pristine, isolated bodies of water can become stocked with fish

Fish Eggs Can Survive a Journey Through Both Ends of a Duck

In lakes and pools that appear physically cut off from other bodies of water, fish sometimes seem to materialize out of nowhere. This somewhat mystical sounding theory might not be far off: a new study suggests fish eggs may simply fall from the sky.

In experiments, some fish eggs hatched after being pooped out by ducks, suggesting that feathered flight could facilitate seemingly immaculate piscine invasions, reports Priyanka Runwal for Audubon.

How isolated waters become populated by fish has been an open question for centuries, Patricia Burkhardt-Holm, a fish biologist at the University of Basel, tells Carolyn Wilke of Science News.

As long ago as the 1800’s naturalists proposed that birds might have a hand (or a beak, foot or… Continue Reading (2 minute read)

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