Fish Anatomy - Fish Mouth Position
The position of the mouth indicates what region of the water the fish will normally get its food from. There are basically three mouth positions. The superior mouth is upturned for feeding on the surface. The design of the mouth allows the fish to gather floating objects. The next position is known as
the terminal or (forward facing position). This is positioned at top tip of the snout to assist mid water swimmers and feeders. The last position is known as an inferior mouth or under slung mouth. This mouth position will be found on bottom feeders.
| Superior Mouth Position |
|
| Terminal Mouth Position |
|
| Inferior Mouth Position |
|
Some fish have rather unusual mouth design such as the elephant nosed fish (Gnathonemus petersi).
This mouth / trunk us used for searching for food on the bottom. Many inferior positioned mouth
fish have fleshy whiskers known as barbells that are used to find their way around and detect food.
Some inferior position fish have a broad mouth (sucking fish) that it uses to cling onto rocks and
feed from the algae.
The next article is this topic discusses the
fins and tail.
