The Fish that Carries Seeds Upstream
BBC Earth｜Water Worlds｜The Green Planet

From the swamps of the Pantanal, to the lakes of Thailand, they all burst into spectacular bloom. Once they've been pollinated, they produce seeds. And now their flowers have done their job, some return to a life under water. Now they must ensure that some of their seeds will find suitable places in which to germinate.
从潘塔纳尔的沼泽到泰国的湖泊，这些水生植物都会绽放出壮观的花朵。它们一旦授粉，就会结出种子。现在它们的花朵已经完成了它们的使命，有些回到了水下生活。现在它们必须确保其中一些种子能找到合适的地方发芽。

Bullrushes every year produce these long, brown, velvety objects. Look what happens when I break one open. It contains almost a quarter of a million seeds. Each seed is attached to a delicate parachute. Even the slightest breeze will lift it and may carry it for very long distances indeed. So even though suitable stretches of fresh water are few and far between, there's a good chance that at least one will end up in a place where it can grow.
每年，香蒲都会产生这些长长的、棕色的、丝绒般的物体。看看我打开一个时会发生什么。它包含了将近二十五万颗种子。每颗种子都附着在一个轻柔的降落伞上。即使是最轻微的微风也能把它吹起来，而且可以把它带到很远的地方。因此，尽管适宜其生长的淡水区域很少且相隔很远，但至少有一个很有可能最终会找到一个适合它生长的地方。

Much bigger seeds, of course, can't travel by air. A river can provide transport, but it's a one-way journey downstream that often ends up in the sea. And that's not ideal. So how can any riverside plant avoid this and travel upstream?
当然，更大的种子不能通过空气传播。河流可以提供运输，但它是顺流而下的单向旅程，最终往往会流入大海。这并不理想。那么，任何河边植物如何避免这种情况并逆流而上呢？

Here, along the Bonito River in Brazil, a variety of trees manage to do exactly that. They embed their seeds in the middle of soft, sweet fruit. Monkeys, such as these capuchins, make a meal of them just as soon as they're ripe. But monkeys are very wasteful feeders. And what's not eaten ends up in the river and is washed away.
在这里，巴西博尼托河沿岸，各种树木都能做到这一点。它们把种子嵌入柔软甜美的果实中间。猴子，比如这些卷尾猴，只要果实一成熟，就把它们当作美餐。但猴子是非常浪费的食客。没吃完的最终会被扔入河流并冲走。

But not all. In the fruiting season, hundreds of Piraputanga fish gather beneath these trees. But the Piraputanga want more than the monkeys' leftovers. The brightly coloured fruits are clearly visible, even to the fish in the water below. And some manage to claim them even before a monkey does. This isn't a skill mastered by just one particularly successful acrobatic fish. Many of the Piraputanga can do this.
但并非全部。在结果的季节，成百上千的皮拉普唐加鱼聚集在这些树下。但皮拉普唐加鱼想要的不仅仅是猴子的残羹剩饭。色彩鲜艳的果实清晰可见，即使在水下的鱼看来也是如此。有些鱼甚至能抢在猴子之前吃到这些果实。这并不是只有一条特别成功的杂技鱼才掌握的技能。许多皮拉普唐加鱼都能做到这一点。

Nor is this a disaster for the tree. Far from it. These Piraputanga are migratory, heading many miles upriver to spawn. The trees, by enticing the fish to eat their fruits, have a perfect means of transport for their seeds. With luck, the seeds will be deposited many miles upstream.
这也不是树木的灾难。远非如此。这些皮拉普坦加鱼是洄游鱼类，它们会逆流而上数英里去产卵。这些树通过引诱鱼儿吃它们的果实，为它们的种子提供了一个完美的运输工具。运气好的话，种子会沉积在上游数英里处。

词汇表
swamp [swɒmp] 沼泽，湿地
Pantanal [ˌpæntəˈnɑːl] 潘特纳尔（湿地）
burst into bloom [bluːm] 绽放、盛放花朵
pollinate [ˈpɒlɪneɪt] 授粉，传授花粉
germinate [ˈdʒɜːmɪneɪt] 发芽，开始生长
bullrush [ˈbʊlrʌʃ] 香蒲（生长在沼泽地的高大植物，有着圆柱形的种子头，在成熟时会爆裂，散布大量的绒毛）
velvety ['velvəti] 天鹅绒般的，丝绒般的
be attached to [ə'tætʃt] 附加在...上
parachute [ˈpærəˌʃuːt] 降落伞（指风散种子）
stretches of fresh water 淡水区域
downstream  [ˌdaʊnˈstriːm] 顺流而下，向下游
upstream [ˌʌpˈstriːm] 逆流而上，向上游
Bonito River  [bəˈnɪtəʊ]  博尼托河（位于巴西）
embed [ɪmˈbed] 嵌入，插入，埋入
capuchin ['kæpjʊˌtʃɪn] 卷尾猴，僧帽猴（原产于中、南美洲，其头部的毛发浓密，类似于僧侣的兜帽）
wasteful feeder 浪费的食客
Piraputanga fish [pɪrəˈpʊtæŋɡə] 皮拉普唐加鱼（生活在南美洲，以其能够跳跃捕食树上的水果而闻名）
leftover [ˈleftˌəʊvə] 剩余物，残羹剩饭
visible [ˈvɪzɪbl] 可见的，引人注目的
acrobatic [ˌækrəˈbætɪk] 杂技的，特技的
migratory [ˈmaɪɡrət(ə)ri] 迁徙的，洄游的
spawn [spɔːn]（鱼、蛙等）产卵
entice [ɪnˈtaɪs] 引诱，诱惑
deposit [dɪˈpɒzɪt] 沉积，沉淀，放置

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