Are quoted fish sizes incl. the tail/tailfin?
When you see fish sizes quoted, eg. max size to which a certain fish grows, does this include or exclude the tail fin? From where to where are they measure? Thanks.
In most forums that i have been to use the total length, from the tip of the antenna to the end of the tale, so that is what i other assume is being presented.
You can own it either way :o)
Total length or standard length.
Max size in an aquarium would be total length as it relates to the fishes competence to move in the amount of space given.
Answers: Good question!
The problem is that there are two common ways of stating all along a fish.
"Standard length" (SL) is the distance from the tip of the snout to the end of the caudal peduncle (in other words, to the base of the tail fin).
"Total length" (TL) is the distance from the tip of the snout to the end of the tail fin, or, for a fish near a forked tail, to the end of the middle of the fork (sometimes this is called "fork length," and another measure, farthest away end of the tail fin, is given as standard length).
A scientific description will usually donate both total length and standard length, but in aquarium literature, sometimes lengths given are in total length and other times standard lengths, and to make matters worse, severely often the author doesn't tell you which measure he or she is giving.
This make a big difference for a fish with a long tail fin, like a betta or a fancy guppy, to name two.
