Comparative Anatomy of the Alimentary Canal of Common Freshwater Fishes and their Food and Feeding Habits

Contents: Preface. 1. General introduction. 2. Material and methods. I. The alimentary system: 3. Historical resume. 4. The herbivorous fishes. 5. The omnivorous fishes. 6. The carnivorous fishes. 7. Discussion. II. The food of the fishes: 8. Historical resume. 9. The herbivores. 10. The omnivores. 11. The carnivores. 12. Discussion. References. Appendices.

From the preface: The alimentary canal of fishes is generally adapted to their feeding habits as fishes occupy different ecological niches and tropic levels and face the challenges of a complex aquatic life. The alimentary canal of a teleost successfully accomplishes a variety of functions inspite of being of a simpler form than that of the higher vertebrates. A study of this feature has been attempted by several investigators in the past.
 
The morphology of the organs of alimentation in fishes attracted the attention of ichthyologists and naturalists since very early times. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) undoubtedly observed the palatal organ of the carp Cyprinus which he noted to be so fleshy as to be mistaken for a tongue. This interesting sense organ was regarded as a tongue by fishermen and was first redescribed by Rondelet 1554 and again by Swammerdam in 1667, its gustatory nature was first maintained by Weber 1827. The comparative anatomy of the grey mullet was noted.