We explored possible diet-related specializations in the digestive tract of stomachless fishes
by summarizing the diets, verifying the absence of a stomach, and comparing gut lengths,
microvilli surface areas, and activities of five digestive enzymes in four taxa of silversides
from southern California coastal waters. For the comparisons, we examined these gut
features in Atherinops affinis from both estuarine and kelp-forest habitats, and Atherinopsis
californiensis and Leuresthes tenuis from open coastal habitats. A. affinis was found to be …