page_title: Fish anatomy
section_title: Pyloric caeca
hierarchical_section_title: Fish anatomy / Internal organs / Pyloric caeca
context_page_description: Fish anatomy is the study of the form or morphology of fishes. It can be contrasted with fish physiology, which is the study of how the component parts of fish function together in the living fish. In practice, fish anatomy and fish physiology complement each other, the former dealing with the structure of a fish, its organs or component parts and how they are put together, such as might be observed on the dissecting table or under the microscope, and the latter dealing with how those components function together in living fish.
  The anatomy of fish is often shaped by the physical characteristics of water, the medium in which fish live. Water is much denser than air, holds a relatively small amount of dissolved oxygen, and absorbs more light than air does. The body of a fish is divided into a head, trunk and tail, although the divisions between the three are not always externally visible. The skeleton, which forms the support structure inside the fish, is either made of cartilage or bone. The main skeletal element is the vertebral column, composed of articulating vertebrae which are lightweight yet strong. The ribs attach to the spine and there are no limbs or limb girdles.
context_section_description: The pyloric caecum is a pouch, usually peritoneal, at the beginning of the large intestine. It receives faecal material from the ileum, and connects to the ascending colon of the large intestine. It is present in most amniotes, and also in lungfish. Many fish in addition have a number of small outpocketings, also called pyloric caeca, along their intestine; despite the name they are not homologous to the caecum of amniotes. Their purpose is to increase the overall surface area of the digestive epithelium, therefore optimizing the absorption of sugars, amino acids, and dipeptides, among other nutrients.
caption: The black swallower is a species of deep sea fish with an extensible stomach which allows it to swallow fish larger than itself.
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