Fish length

[Alfredo77]

Hello all,

I am just curious as when fish vendors say a fish has a max size x what does this mean? mouth to tail? i.e the
end of the tail? or just flesh part of the fish?

Thanks

 

[i cant think]

Hello all,

I am just curious as when fish vendors say a fish has a max size x what does this mean? mouth to tail? i.e the
end of the tail? or just flesh part of the fish?

Thanks

I personally think of max size as head to tail being tip of the head to the fleshy part of the tail. So if a fish has streamers, I think of them as an extra part to the max size of the fish but I could be wrong.

 

[ying yang]

I always got taught and read its just the body so don't count the caudal fin,or any fins of the fish.
Gets trickier when fish like copperbands and the like as got large snouts

 

[ying yang]

I always got taught and read its just the body so don't count the caudal fin,or any fins of the fish.
Gets trickier when fish like copperbands and the like as got large snouts

 

[ying yang]

Fish measurement - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

This article says tip of snout to last vertabrea and dont count caudal fin.
I'm sure lots article on the net to read

 

[vetteguy53081]

Generally mouth to tail, The issue I have with these numbers is I rarely if ever see fish attain those maximum numbers in captivity, even in a public aquarium.
Size seen in the wild is a vast difference from seen in an aquarium

 

[PatW]

I always took it as the tip of the nose (actually mouth) to the tip of the tail.

But I think they talk about wild fish in the big old ocean. I have found my tangs in a 300 gallon, do not get that big and I have a light load, plenty of food, plump colorful fish, and they still are not at the size published. The small fish get closer to max size. I think my dottyback is close to max. And my caribbean blue chromis is about 70% max.

 

[nereefpat]

Hello all,

I am just curious as when fish vendors say a fish has a max size x what does this mean? mouth to tail? i.e the
end of the tail? or just flesh part of the fish?

Thanks

This is the difference between SL (standard length) and TL (total).

In the hobby, it's tip to tip. In science, the length is standard length (nose to caudal peduncle) unless stated otherwise.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

@nereefpat is correct. The reason why they use SL in science is that sometimes, in old preserved fish, the caudal find rays break off and are lost. Therefore, SL is used rather than TL.

In the trade, they use TL and then add 25% if they think they can up the price (grin). The reverse also works in some cases: we used to say that the Florida collectors had a magical tape measure they used to measure nurse sharks. They always measured 14", despite the fact that when they showed up on your door, they measured 20" with the tape measure we have (grin).

One thing that works out is to use www.fishbase.org and take 80% of the maximum length listed. That is roughly how large the fish will grow to in captivity.

Jay