Killifish eggs can disperse via gut passage through waterfowl

0506809 - ÚBO 2020 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Silva, G. G. - Weber, V. - Green, A. J. - Hoffmann, P. - Silva, V. S. - Volcan, M. V. - Lanés, L. E. K. - Stenert, C. - Reichard, Martin - Maltchik, L.
Killifish eggs can disperse via gut passage through waterfowl.
Ecology. Roč. 100, č. 11 (2019), č. článku e02774. ISSN 0012-9658. E-ISSN 1939-9170
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA18-26284S
Institutional support: RVO:68081766
Keywords : passive internal dispersal * survive passage * Anatidae * annual fish * diapause * endozoochory * killifishes * waterbirds * wetland
OECD category: Ecology
Impact factor: 4.700, year: 2019
Method of publishing: Open access
https://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/189863/1/ecy.2774.pdf

How freshwater fish arrived in remote lakes and pools has been much debated. It has often been suggested that fish eggs are dispersed when they are attached to the feet, feathers, or bills of waterbirds (a form of ectozoochory). However, a recent thorough review failed to provide solid empirical evidence for such dispersal (Hirsch et al. 2018). We discovered an alternative mode to waterbird-facilitated dispersal of fish eggs—inside the alimentary system of coscoroba swan (form of endozoochory)—and experimentally demonstrated that killifish eggs from bird feces were capable of continuing their development after spending over 30 h inside a swan.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0297967