Why Do Fish Yawn- Are we boring them?

Hi Folks,

while viewing some fantastic images lately of Frogfish, Rhinopias and others it got me wondering why do they do it?

Is this normal behavior as in just stretching out the jaws to release pent up tension, or is it a territorial display or a

warning off due to having something invade their space and the other thing that occurred to me is maybe many pic's

are taken by folks using a DSLR rig with a dome port on the front and the fish is 'posing in the mirror' or displaying to

'other' fish it sees in front of it?

What is your experience and or thoughts on this.

Cheers,

Jim

I believe ( and have no scientific back-up to this) that frogfish and rhinopias yawn after they have had too much close intimidation flash photography. If you watch them (and I have watched many) they usually do it only after being photographed for a while.

Regards,

James

I believe ( and have no scientific back-up to this) that frogfish and rhinopias yawn after they have had too much close intimidation flash photography. If you watch them (and I have watched many) they usually do it only after being photographed for a while.

 

Regards,

James

James, JimSwims:

I would echo the above sentiment regarding the yawn as a sign of a sea subject being pissed-off.

Afterwards it is time to not stress the subject any further, in my view. It seems we are

disturbing their strategy of camouflage, and the frog fish, I'm told, take a while to

get their blend into the surroundings so as to be able to ambush their prey.

Rhinopias and pigmy sea horses get the many-photographer line-up treatment.

Love the sea and respect its creatures at the same time is a rule of thumb to be honored

and practiced, as I see it.

Best fishes

Bill

I agree. It is possible to make a frogfish yawn by moving the camera in and out slightly in front of its face. No need to take a photo. Just invading its space seems to be enough.

That said, fish also yawn naturally too. So you don't need to chastise every photo of yawning frogfish you see. Some photos may be natural yawns and even if they are not, it is hardly the worst crime in the underwater world.

However, I chose not to include yawning froggies in either of my books, for this reason.

Alex

Yo Jimsta,

Whilst Im not too sure about yawning, you did touch on an a very interesting topic

When we went to see the cuttlefish, I was playing with the idea of putting a mirror on my rig to see what there reaction would be.

has anyone else ever done something similar?

sorry to hijack!

Cal

I did a bit of research into why fish yawn a while back and found a number of reasons:

1. Territorial/aggression display

2. Mating behviour

3. To get cleaned at cleaning stations

4. Stretch their jaw muscles

Hmmmm, yes well I always though the term 'Yawn' was perhaps a bit misleading.

Seeing images of such cryptic fish declaring 'Here I am' had made me wonder if they might be

saying enough. Perhaps the term 'Roar' might be a little more appropriate

As far as Cals idea of mirrors goes I think I've seen it used with a certain type of eel, who's

name escapes me, which puts on a nice display to warn off its perceived interloper.

Cheers,

Jim.