2.3 Generalizations
A number of generalizations about the gut of fishes have been attempted, many of them extrapolated from terrestrial vertebrates. The commonest of these, the observation that herbivores have longer guts than carnivores, appears only partially true in fish. While this may be true in limited groups of fish, it is not universal in teleosts as a whole. Gut lengths have been listed as 0.2-2.5, 0.6-8.0 and 0.8-15.0 times body length in carnivores, omnivores, and herbivores, respectively. Thus, the longest guts are found in herbivores, but not all herbivores have long guts; i.e., the gut lengths of some herbivores are shorter than those of some carnivores. Part of the explanation lies in the fact that many fish eat a variety of food, sometimes ingested with considerable indigestible material (e.g. mud) which often influences gut length. The size of the food particles - from submicroscopic plankton to whole fish - may also influence gut configuration.
One generalization so far appears to have no exception. In fishes having no stomachs, no acid phase of digestion occurs, even when the midgut develops stomach-like pouches anteriorly. Although gut tissues exhibit great versatility, the midgut appears unable (or does not need) to duplicate the stomach functions.
In general, most studies relating food habits to gut morphology show considerable relationship between the two. However, the gut also retains considerable reserve ability to respond to new foods, new environments, and new opportunities. This versatility has been demonstrated in a number of cases in which a single genus has adapted to new niches and evolved whole new modes of feeding and digestion to utilize otherwise unexploited food resources and done so over rather short evolutionary periods of time.
At the same time, there are usually severe constraints on adaptations to new food. As long as swimming continues to be important to a fish's lifestyle, any major change in body shape, such as a bulging visceral mass resulting from enlarging the stomach or lengthening the midgut, must extract a penalty in terms of increased effort needed for swimming. Feeding mechanisms must not interfere with the respiratory functions of the gills and vice versa. All in all, "packaged" so that any major change in the digestive system would call for major compromises in many other systems. Perhaps the best generalization is that teleost fish maintain an intimate relationship between the form and function of their gut and their food resource. In the final analysis, all of the other life processes continue to function only when sufficient materials and energy are obtained and assimilated via the gut.
2.3 Generalizations
A number of generalizations about the gut of fishes have been attempted, many of them extrapolated from terrestrial vertebrates. The commonest of these, the observation that herbivores have longer guts than carnivores, appears only partially true in fish. While this may be true in limited groups of fish, it is not universal in teleosts as a whole. Gut lengths have been listed as 0.2-2.5, 0.6-8.0 and 0.8-15.0 times body length in carnivores, omnivores, and herbivores, respectively. Thus, the longest guts are found in herbivores, but not all herbivores have long guts; i.e., the gut lengths of some herbivores are shorter than those of some carnivores. Part of the explanation lies in the fact that many fish eat a variety of food, sometimes ingested with considerable indigestible material (e.g. mud) which often influences gut length. The size of the food particles - from submicroscopic plankton to whole fish - may also influence gut configuration.
One generalization so far appears to have no exception. In fishes having no stomachs, no acid phase of digestion occurs, even when the midgut develops stomach-like pouches anteriorly. Although gut tissues exhibit great versatility, the midgut appears unable (or does not need) to duplicate the stomach functions.
In general, most studies relating food habits to gut morphology show considerable relationship between the two. However, the gut also retains considerable reserve ability to respond to new foods, new environments, and new opportunities. This versatility has been demonstrated in a number of cases in which a single genus has adapted to new niches and evolved whole new modes of feeding and digestion to utilize otherwise unexploited food resources and done so over rather short evolutionary periods of time.
At the same time, there are usually severe constraints on adaptations to new food. As long as swimming continues to be important to a fish's lifestyle, any major change in body shape, such as a bulging visceral mass resulting from enlarging the stomach or lengthening the midgut, must extract a penalty in terms of increased effort needed for swimming. Feeding mechanisms must not interfere with the respiratory functions of the gills and vice versa. All in all, "packaged" so that any major change in the digestive system would call for major compromises in many other systems. Perhaps the best generalization is that teleost fish maintain an intimate relationship between the form and function of their gut and their food resource. In the final analysis, all of the other life processes continue to function only when sufficient materials and energy are obtained and assimilated via the gut.
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