When bettas "yawn" what are they actually doing?

I have noticed this both with Ricktavious and now with Andre (males) but not with Spazz (female). I have seen both Ricktavious and Andre make what looks like a "yawn" or a "gulp" where they open their mouths as wide as possible. What does doing this mean and what does it accomplish for the bettas?

 

that's something bettas just do.. ours all do it.. the females do it also, but males seem to do it more frequently.. I think it has something to do with their air labyrinth organ, but we're not sure what the purpose of it is.

 

Yeah, mine do that too (male and females). But it's funny, it's the larger ones who tend to do it. I wonder if it's related?

 

Fish do yawn! It would send water flowing over their gills, so maybe there's some purpose to that.

My betta usually does it when I'm looking right at him close up. I think he's trying to tell me something.

 

ha ha ha. Something along the lines of: 'Did I ASK you how you day was? Do you NEED to reminisce, AGAIN?! I've heard that story a million times, grandma'

Bettas are so....... rude!

 

Most of my fish yawn. I laugh when my betta do it...I haven't noticed my female betta doing it tho.
My krib female does it when she is cranky. Everytime I feed the fry bbs, the mom gets all twitchy and yawns a few time in a row. I think she is telling me off.

 

Yawning in fish does the same thing that it does in humans. It forces more air/oxygen into their systems. While it would do it in a different way in fish it is still how they do it. It does force oxygenated water over the gills and thus makes more oxygen enter the system by dousing the gills with the water faster than normal. If a fish does it repeatedly and constantly, the air content of the water may be in question and an airstone may be needed or a bigger one if there is already one present or the one that is there may need to be turned up. If the fish is constantly yawning, it is not getting enough oxygen from somewhere and needs a supplemental source of air in the water.

Rose

 

OK, or that. I like my 'bettas are just rude' explanation better, Rose, LOL.

Thanks, Rose. I knew you'd enlighten us.

 

What about a Haiku?

Your mouth moves, blah blah
unless you mention bloodworms
I yawn in your face.

 

so, does that mean I guessed right about it being related to their air labyrinth? It is something our bettas do, but they only used to do it on odd occasions. I've not seen any of them 'yawn' in months.

Yawning in fish does the same thing that it does in humans. It forces more air/oxygen into their systems. While it would do it in a different way in fish it is still how they do it. It does force oxygenated water over the gills and thus makes more oxygen enter the system by dousing the gills with the water faster than normal. If a fish does it repeatedly and constantly, the air content of the water may be in question and an airstone may be needed or a bigger one if there is already one present or the one that is there may need to be turned up. If the fish is constantly yawning, it is not getting enough oxygen from somewhere and needs a supplemental source of air in the water.

Rose

 

its not fully related to their air labyrinth, I'm not even going to say why they do this........

 

ROFL!

What about a Haiku?

Your mouth moves, blah blah
unless you mention bloodworms
I yawn in your face.

 

Pretty much it means that it has something to do with the air Labyrinth in so far as it means that if your bettas are not yawning they have enough air in the water that they are not needing any more air from anywhere so they do not need to infuse anymore from the water over their gills. The Labyrinth organ is working properly and the air content of the water is fully adequate for their needs. You are a good betta dad. How is that for an answer? It is an excellent sign for them not to yawn but not necessarily a horrible sign for them to yawn as long as they are not doing it constantly.

If they are yawning constantly, it is not a good sign. You need to do something like soon to the air content of the water and the temperature of the water probably.

Rose

 

thanks Rose! when I think about it, they did yawn more before we started spending time here at Fishlore and learning how to take care of our little ones. another good tip from you on taking care of our little betta bunch.