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Invertebrate dispersal by aquatic mammals: a case study with nutria Myocastor coypus (Rodentia, Mammalia) in Southern France

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Abstract

Many freshwater invertebrates rely on vectors for their passive dispersal. A wide array of vectors has already been investigated, but dispersal mediated by aquatic mammals remains largely unknown. Since nutria (Myocastor coypus Molina, 1782) live in a variety of aquatic habitats and frequently move around between these water bodies, they have the opportunity to transport hitch-hiking aquatic invertebrates along with them. We investigated the presence of aquatic invertebrates in their fur to evaluate this hypothesis. This study demonstrates the feasibility of ectozoochory in a broad array of freshwater invertebrates by nutria on a local scale. More than 800 invertebrates of 14 different taxa were retrieved from the fur of 10 nutria specimens, including cladocerans, copepods, ostracods, rotifers, bryozoans, dipterans, nematodes, annelids and collembolans. Many of these freshwater invertebrates could survive at least 30 min in the moist fur of nutria. Therefore, we can state that besides modifying aquatic habitats physically by clearing vegetation or digging, nutria may also alter invertebrate communities by introducing new species or genotypes.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by a Ph.D. grant of the Institute for the Promotion of Innovation through Science and Technology in Flanders (IWT Vlaanderen) and by a grant from the French National Research Agency (ANRBIODIVERSITE ANR-05-BDIV-014).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Charles Deberiotstraat 32, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Aline Waterkeyn & Luc Brendonck

  2. Research Center for Mediterranean Wetlands, Tour du Valat, Le Sambuc, 13200, Arles, France

    Aline Waterkeyn, Olivier Pineau & Patrick Grillas

Authors
  1. Aline Waterkeyn
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  2. Olivier Pineau
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  3. Patrick Grillas
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  4. Luc Brendonck
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Correspondence to Aline Waterkeyn.

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Handling editor: B. Oertli

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Waterkeyn, A., Pineau, O., Grillas, P. et al. Invertebrate dispersal by aquatic mammals: a case study with nutria Myocastor coypus (Rodentia, Mammalia) in Southern France. Hydrobiologia 654, 267–271 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0388-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0388-3

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