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Fish in a pond

A

Anonymous

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This was just something I started to wonder about the other night. Where do the fish in ponds come from? I mean you can be out in the middle of nowhere, and there is a lake with fish swimming around in it. They can't migrate around like normal animals, so how do they get there? Is it all dried out rivers and such? Or did they fall from the sky?
 
You're trying waaaayyyyyyyy to hard bro...... :D

Seriously though, there are numerous reasons. Many lakes are "stocked" by locals for food/sport. Small feeder streams can allow fry to enter into the pond. The list goes on and on.
 
I'm not saying I've given it much thought.

Besides, I was also talking about lakes in the middle of nowhere that aren't artificially filled with fish.
 
I think most natural lakes are formed when they are cut off from river channels or they are part of a floodplain. The fish that are present in these lakes are the decendents of fish that were trapped when the lake was cut off. I think its something like that :)
 
this is what has happened in (i think) N.America Death valley area where each small pond has its own unique species of Cichlid. They must have been linked to the sea/river at some poiint but then got isolated allowing them to evolve to cope with their small ponds. Same thing may have happened in N.Africa somewhere (i cant quite remember). Geographical isolation as a starting point for speciation
 
One fish that does travel overland is the eel. Perhaps they inadvertently transport a few eggs of other species with them.

A lake in a mountain valley, that is only fed by small streams, does need an explanation for its fish life. Saying the fish came down the streams only pushes the problem one stage back - how did the fish get into the streams? (Since the streams are just rainwater or meltwater.) And the problem is even greater if the lake empties via a waterfall that fish cannot ascend.

I think airborne transport is required, whether by birds or strong winds/tornadoes. After all, it seems probable that not every fish fall lands in someone's back yard!
 
Even the most obscure lake locations are stocked with fish which is why any keen angler will track it down and secretly fish it.
 
How did I get diving beetles in my pond??? It's that teleportation thing, ain't it?
 
IJ, many species are quite capable of leaving the water and breeding elsewhere. Some, like water boatmen, will even breed in a birdbath.
 
Yep beetles have legs, normal fish don't.

Eels can of course move around. I once saw an eel crawl up a vertical cliffside, looked weird.
 
Most of the time fish will get into ponds that have not been stocked by water birdlife 'catching' spawn from weed etc, on their legs and transferring it around with them, either dropping off in flight & landing in water or by landing on the pond itself and transferring them this way.
 
Fort gives a case of a newly-dug pond which was miraculously
stocked with fish overnight!

Too lazy this minute to dig up the exact reference. :rolleyes:
 
Xanatic said:
This was just something I started to wonder about the other night. Where do the fish in ponds come from? I mean you can be out in the middle of nowhere, and there is a lake with fish swimming around in it. They can't migrate around like normal animals, so how do they get there? Is it all dried out rivers and such? Or did they fall from the sky?


We smoke something heavy then float through the air till we come down. There is a great science in determining the number of joints it will take to reach the next pond. Sadly many start smoking before they get their calculators out, which often results in a premature landing in somebody's back garden.
The fish will then begin to panic and look for it's rizlas. Many will not be able to find a lighter in time and will be eaten by vicious drunken hedgehogs that have just come back from the pub stinking of beer and cigarettes.

Hence the old expression "nobody loves a hedgepig" which originated in the fishing communities of the British Isles: fishermen are particularly fond of the piscis appotus, (common name, "doobiefish"), as they are so easy to catch, and can weigh in at up to 20lbs, due to the mars bars and Pringles that are such a rich and abundant source of food to the doobiefish, the local newsagents only being a few doors down.

Pinklefish
 
So that's sorted that question, then!

So obvious, when you think about it. I bet Xan feels quite embarrased for asking now.... :)
 
And I guess it also explain fafrotskis. If only Fort had been a pothead.
 
Don't forget killifish which live in temporary lakes/pools.
They lay eggs which lie dormant during the dry season when the pools disapear, and then hatch when the rains come, once again filling the pool with water. I believe their life span is about 6-8 months.
 
Red Dalek said:
Don't forget killifish which live in temporary lakes/pools.
They lay eggs which lie dormant during the dry season when the pools disapear, and then hatch when the rains come, once again filling the pool with water. I believe their life span is about 6-8 months.

Some species of African Killi's are what are called 'annuals' which have a lifespan of up to 12 months , but there are also some species that will live to 3-4 years.
 
There is a desert frog that during dry times will go into hibernating and can do so for 9 years. Amazing.
 
Same as in Oz, Red and Xanatic. There are species of fish and crustaceans whose eggs can withstand dessication and wait for the temporary waterbody to refill. Some frogs can fill themselves with water, burrow into the mud of a drying waterbody and sit out the dry time encased in hardened clay.

Ain't nature wonderful? :cool:
 
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