# General Question - Fish's stomache



## leongreenway (Mar 29, 2005)

My boss told me the LFS told her that eat fishes stomach size could be judged by the size of the fish's eye. (same size)

Is that true ??


----------



## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

I think thats "about" right... of coarse some fish have bigger eyes than others proportionatly...


----------



## Lexus (Jan 19, 2005)

I've heard that too


----------



## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Yep, true. It's only a rough guideline, of course, but it holds up pretty well for many groups of fish.
Actually, I thinks it's more precise to say that the stomach is about the same size as the two eyes together, but again that's only true about many groups of fish but not about many others.

That Lamprologus ( or whatever they're calling them this week ) in your avatar, for example, has a stomach about 1.5 times the size of one eyeball, as would be expected of a predator of small organisms. An algae eating Mbuna from the same lake would have a smaller stomach only one-eye sized. A grazer like that has the luxury of eating many small meals at it's own pace, but a predator has to be able to eat a big meal all at once when it gets a chance.

An Anglerfish has a HUGE stomach, and it can stretch to an amazing degree.

Again, I'm generalizing a bit. The biggest fish in the world, the Whale Shark, eats only tiny krill and other plankton, but it does so constantly. It's eyes are huge, and it's stomach is even bigger.

Most of your typical aquarium type fish, however, keep pretty true to the eye-stomach size comparison.


----------



## shev (Jan 18, 2005)

well its news to me.


----------



## DavidDoyle (Jan 18, 2005)

So a great white shark only has a tiny stomach- wonder where those 50+ lb bites go?

The oscar I saw eat a live mouse must have stored it in mouth pouches?

Somehow, I find this all har to swallow.


----------



## shev (Jan 18, 2005)

> Somehow, I find this all har to swallow


you must have little beady eyes.

and cave fish dont have stomachs then.

maybe not the same size as the eyes, but generally bigger stomachs when the fish has bigger eyes.


----------



## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Uhm, David, I said a Whale Shark has a big stomach.

Oscars are of course predators, which have bigger stomachs, and all stomachs can stretch quite a bit.


----------



## mlefev (Apr 19, 2005)

My eyes are always bigger than my stomach...LOL :wink:


----------



## google (Jan 27, 2005)

hey, leongreenway, this is fishienut123 from fishprofiles! aka google in fishforums


----------



## Shaggy (Apr 29, 2005)

DavidDoyle @ Mon May 02 said:


> The oscar I saw eat a live mouse...



An oscar fish at a live mouse??


----------



## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

yeah... I sometimes let my piranhas have a live mammilian meal once in a great great while... its kind of entertaining in a way... However the mice are always fairly young, infact I have only fed one mouse with hair on it once... because that was a heck of a mess thrown into the aquarium..


----------



## DavidDoyle (Jan 18, 2005)

Yes- it was in lps display tank. Oscar was good size and employee went and got a pinkie from a cage, held it above the water and dropped it. The mouse never got wet.


----------



## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

However entertaining, a small mouse puts a huge strain on an oscars digestive system, but I suppose once in a while dosn't do that much harm. :chair:


----------



## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

Id be the same as getting a terrestrial snack in the wild


----------



## Thunderkiss (Mar 19, 2005)

Yep true. And whoever is feeding the oscars pinkies .... Idiots. Like the hobby needs more bad press than what it already gets from Peta and other neo-nazi groups.


----------



## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

shev @ Mon May 02 said:


> well its news to me.


same here


----------



## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

I had heard that in the past but I questioned it then. Next time I get ahold of someone at Shedd Ill have to ask them. 
.
.
.
.
.
.
writing it down in my brain memopad so I wont forget
.
.
.
.
.
.
fileing the paper in my upstairs filecabinet
.
.
.
.
.
.
back in the real world
.
.
.
.
.
Now what were we talking about. :lol:


----------



## Lydia (Feb 6, 2005)

lmao


----------



## atltk (Feb 16, 2005)

I used to throw cockroaches into my Oscar tank, and I mean the big ones (much bigger than any pinkie). What was weird was that the albino would have nothing to do with them...ever, but they were the fire's favorite snack, so you never know what'll float whose boat (although I agree that "snacks" like this shohuld be given sparingly).


----------



## mlefev (Apr 19, 2005)

Lol you couldn't get me close enough to a cockroach to even consider doing that. I guess I'm a wimp, but ewwwww....hehe.


----------



## blakeoe (Apr 27, 2005)

Ive seen A dog eat a giant bird, a snake eat an alligator (on t.v.) an iguana eat a toad and a neutra rat eat a snake but never a fish eat a mouse! Ill have to try that when my oscars get bigger.


----------



## leongreenway (Mar 29, 2005)

I seen a peanut stand
And heard a rubber band
I seen a needle that winked it's eye
But I been done seen about everything
When I see a elephant fly


----------



## Lydia (Feb 6, 2005)

lol


----------

