title: Relative intestine length and feeding ecology of freshwater fishes.
abstract: There is a significant relationship between the intestine length (Y) and total body length (X) for 11 species of freshwater fish (Y = 0.08X1.42). Sufficient variation exists about this relationship to indicate important differences among the species' diets. The diets for each species, ranked on a Trophic Index scale determined from literature data, are negatively rank order correlated with the mean relative intestine lengths (rs = -0.67). There is no significant rank order correlation between the Trophic Indices determined from data on stomach contents and the mean relative intestine lengths for fish from a single creek.
mesh_terms: D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D001699:Biometry / Q000379:methods; D004463:Ecology; D005399:Fishes / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development*; D005618:Fresh Water; D007422:Intestines / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development*; D008954:Models, Biological