Fish that eats upside down?

[ladyshark]

Hi all

I just heard about a saltwater fish that is "fun to watch" because it turns itself upside down to eat, and has to do this in order to digest food.....

Has anyone ever heard of this fish or know what it is? Maybe its an urban legend?

I'd be curious to know if anyone has info

thanks

 

[billsreef]

Sounds like an urban legend. There are plenty of fish that will happily hang upside down under ledges to hunt and eat, but they don't need to be upside down. The lionfish is one example.

 

[mrwilson]

Although it certainly doesn't need to do this, one entertaining aspect of my copperband butterfly is that it frequently hunts and picks at the rockwork almost completely upside-down. It gives the impression that it is concentrating so thoroughly on whatever small prey it's after that it can't be bothered to right itself first. I have never seen it rotate significantly sideways, though. (I don't know quite how to technically describe it, but if the fish were an airplane, it would only "pitch," rather than "roll" or "yaw.")

 

[Meisen]

Grammas, Genicanthus angels and basslets tend to do this as well.

 

[ladyshark]

I thought so---this was a story that I heard from a friend, who heard from a friend.....someone probably saw something like mrwilson's copperband, and the owner told him he does that to find food, and the story developed into "cool fish that has to eat upside down"

Thanks!