Do Bettas Yawn?

[bryanacute]

It's different info from several websites, books etc... Put together into my own words.

[madmonahan]

I get it, but i still call it "yawning" i know its not really yawning its more of a breathing thing. calm down everyone...:)

[bryanacute]

Ok. I do to! So all's good

[Sena Hansler]

Technically, since they do have a labryinth organ, much as we have lungs, yawning motion can be a few things. One of them is oxygen to the brain. Most of us yawn, due to lack of oxygen to the brain. They yawn probably to something similar to us :) IMO

[Perry the platypus]

Originally Posted by Viva

Ok so I looked up yawning on Wikipedia and found this quote:

"Similarly, Siamese fighting fish yawn only when they see a conspecific (same species) or their own mirror-image, and their yawn often accompanies aggressive attack."

I guess it's kind of like when a dog bares his teeth to show how big they are. A betta will open its mouth to show the other betta (or person I guess, because Cinder does it when he sees me!!) how big his mouth is.

Other theories suggest animals yawn to simply stretch muscles that otherwise wouldn't be stretched.

A dog snarls when he is threatened or to show that he has strong K9 (canine) teeth but you have the same idea.

[madmonahan]

Originally Posted by Sena Hansler

Technically, since they do have a labryinth organ, much as we have lungs, yawning motion can be a few things. One of them is oxygen to the brain. Most of us yawn, due to lack of oxygen to the brain. They yawn probably to something similar to us :) IMO

Yes this also makes sense to me. :D

[finnfinnfriend]

I think they are just stretching their little jaws :). It is enjoyable to project human emotions and behaviors on our animal friends, so I like to point out that he is "yawning" when I see him stretching his jaw :P

If they were doing it to get oxygen, wouldn't they do it at the surface? Or does sucking in some water provide oxygen too? I would think that they shouldn't get too much water in their labrynth, just like we shouldn't get too much water in our lungs. (Although, some moisture is great for both)

[WhiskeyHands]

yes mine does! :D