Fish eggs outta water.... are they dead?

Question

Ok so I was cleaning out my fish tank (fresh water), and I took out on of the little figurines that the fish can swim into and as I was just plainly rinsing it under some water, I looked inside and noticed what I thought could be eggs on the wall of this thing. So I put it back into the tank... I hadn't even come close to touching the eggs so they're still intact and all.... but are they dead or has no harm come to them since they're still in the eggs?

Answer 1

caviar!

Answer 2

odds are they are fine unless they were out of water long enough to dry  

Answer 3

If they are out of the water for more than a few moments, then they will be fine. But i suggest that instead of putting them back in the tank, move them to a hatching tank (5 gallon  tank should do) and place an air stone near the eggs to keep them oxygenated and help in their development.  

Answer 4

If you mean that you rinsed the figurine with regular tap-water before you noticed the eggs, chances are that the eggs are dead.  The chlorine in tap-water crosses the egg membrane border very easily and will kill the embryo.

Put it back into the water and hope for the best.  Good luck!