Fish existing in the weirdest places?

Question

Hi,

Back around 1988 or so I remember helping a buddy gather crayfish out in a cornfield. We scooped up some crayfish (crawdads) in some mini-ponds that seemed nothing more than
seasonal pools. What blew my mind is that the "ponds" had small sunfish, crappie, etc.......I have no idea how these things got in there, but the area is about 3 miles inland from Lake Erie and there are tons of seagulls around.

I was amazed at this because some of this "drainage" wasn't more than the size of say a single parking space...Please explain?????

Answer 1

I used to see that on the farms also. There are at least a couple of explanations. One is that many crustaceans' eggs can go dormant through dry conditions and then hatch when wet later. In fact, in the desert, there are shrimp that will do just that, coming to life, maturing, mating, laying eggs and dying during the brief rainy season. The eggs will just wait until the next rainy spell when the process repeats.

As for the fish, one explanation is that water birds may wade through a clutch of fish eggs in another nearby body of water, then a few eggs will stick to their legs and come off when the birds wade through your puddle.

Answer 2

Somebody (probably younger kids) put them in there to have there own secrete pond. They probably don't even know it will probably dry up in the summer.Ponds don't stock themselves even via seagull or tornado.