FISHFREAK28

Hi guys,

Im a newbie to the forum.

Im doing some research on molly fish. I cant seem to find info on what digestive system they have. If anyone knows this Id be grateful.

Thanks

Amanda

Welcome to Fishlore!
What exactly do you mean by type of digestive system??

Lucy

Welcome to FishLore
Maybe this will help:
Anatomy of a fish

FISHFREAK28

Do they possess a stomach, is there any special adaptations etc

Amanda

Well any fish you keep in your aquarium will have a stomach....

FISHFREAK28

Apparently goldfish and carp dont

Amanda

They have no form of a stomach what so ever?

FISHFREAK28

Yes according to a fish nutrition book I have. The food just goes straight into a long intestinal tract after the oesophagus

namehater

thats crazy! i thought everything had a stomach. i dont know anything about fish anatomy so ill definitely be watching this thread!

Meenu

Fascinating! Is that why goldfish are such huge waste-producers?

FISHFREAK28

Because goldfish eat small amounts of food continuosly (i.e. browsing) the digestive tract has evolved to support a steady flow of food coming in. Hence it would be impractical to have a stomach, compared to carnivores for example which eat meals high in protein (difficult to digest) at set intervals and thus need a temporary storage place if you like (such as the stomach) where a concentrated effort can be made to break down the food (with acid) before it is absorbed.

I cant really say whether this is the reason goldfish are big waste producers, it could just be that the food which they eat contains more undigestible nutrients compared to a strict carnivores

Butterfly

Plecos are pretty much the same way. Their digestive tracts are so straight and short that many times a good percentage of their food comes through undigested and still looks like what they were eating
But I do imagine Mollies have a stomach because they aren't continously pooing the whole time their eating.
carol

mathas

Unless the word "stomach" in this study is a mistranslation, I would say mollies do have stomachs.

enthusiast

i drew up a diagram for you

lmao

Attached Images

fish anatomy.jpg (11.1 KB, 26 views)

m-corbett1

I think i just wet myself.