Originally Posted By: eyeFISH

I didn't count 'em all but the one thing that struck me was the SIZE of the caeca. Rather than the 1-2" spaghetti strands we're all used to seeing in river fish, these were HUGE.... the size of half-cut green beans! Serious digest activity going on, for sure. And look at the size of the stomach! Hard to believe there could be that much digestive capacity in an 8 pound fish!
This from a paper I found Googling "pyloric caeca"....

Welch: Gut Structure of Pacific Salmon ...

ABSTRACT

The stomach (but not intestine) of chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) is greatly enlarged relative to other species of Pacific salmon. This permits the exploitation of gelatinous zooplankton (jellyfish, ctenophores, and salps) as a major food source, which are an abundant but low energy prey unused by other species of salmon.

The unique gut structure of chum therefore allows efficient feeding on a little-exploited branch of the food web and reduces inter-specific trophic competition.
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The Keen Eye MD
Long Live the Kings!