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Post by fishfever on Aug 2, 2009 10:00:00 GMT -5
I was reading an article about something unrelated to fish and it mentioned that lots of animals yawn, including fish. For example I know cats yawn a lot! But I have seen a few of my fish look like they yawn also (a large tetra and a few large mollies). I always thought they were trying to tell me they were hungry by opening their mouths so wide but now I'm wondering if this is yawning. Yawning is supposed to help take in more oxygen but since they are underwater I'm not sure how this works. Just curious and I'm not 100% convinced that fish do yawn...
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Post by Carl on Aug 2, 2009 10:15:21 GMT -5
I have seen what appears to a be a yawn in fish. Here is a university article about the subject (in which fish are included as animals that yawn) www.uc.edu/news/ebriefs/yawn.htmHere is a quote from this article: Since fish get oxygen from the water, this may similar to yawns in land animals to increase oxygen. Carl |
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Post by goldenpuon on Aug 2, 2009 11:10:50 GMT -5
I have seen my own fish yawn many times. I hear in fish it is a sign they are stressed or maybe just need more oxygen like Carl said.
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Post by bikeguy33 on Aug 2, 2009 19:40:50 GMT -5
i have yet to own a fish that doesnt yawn...altho i am not convinced it is to increase oxygen levels...since my tanks have always been on the verge of being over oxygenated. but i do believe they may be yawning to equalise....like we do in airplanes or elevators. also....i have witnessed alot of yawning right after feeding times....which would seem like it may be to dislodge bits of food in their throats....just my 2 cents...
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Post by stix0504 on Aug 3, 2009 9:22:45 GMT -5
My orandas yawn a lot too and I have A LOT of air in that tank. My other goldfish don't seem to yawn that much (at least as far as I have noticed anyways)
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Post by Carl on Aug 3, 2009 10:08:08 GMT -5
i have yet to own a fish that doesnt yawn...altho i am not convinced it is to increase oxygen levels...since my tanks have always been on the verge of being over oxygenated. but i do believe they may be yawning to equalise....like we do in airplanes or elevators. also....i have witnessed alot of yawning right after feeding times....which would seem like it may be to dislodge bits of food in their throats....just my 2 cents... My thoughts are not that there is inadequate oxygen available (in either the air or the water) as in other animals, but to simply increase oxygen levels in the blood flow to the brain. Feeding could certainly be such a stimulant, as well dislodging material could be another reason for this (I have seen this too quite frequently after feeding lionfish) Carl |
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Post by fishfever on Aug 3, 2009 16:31:19 GMT -5
I also have quite high oxygen levels in my tank but I guess that doesn't guarantee the fish always has adequate oxygen, depending on how active the fish has been. I don't see this often (and usually only notice it on a few larger fish) but next time I'll try to make some mental notes as to how close to feeding time it was and how active the fish was prior to the "yawning" to see if I can correlate it to something.
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