Can Lizard Eat Fish?

Fish and lizards live in the same environment. Just one of them lives in the land and another on water. There is various kind of lizards. Some of them are small, and some of them are big. Small ones obviously cannot eat fish, but what happens when giant lizard comes across a fish?

So, can lizard eat fish? The small lizard will not eat fish, but medium and big-sized lizards can eat fish. Lizards are opportunistic creatures, so they will eat whatever they can. If there are a lot of fish nearby, then they will definitely eat them. Most fish will be easy food since the fish cannot harm the lizard.

What fish a lizard will eat will depend on the size of the lizard. Monitor lizard can eat relatively bigger fish but not those fishes that are almost the monitor lizard’s size because that will be too risky for them. 

Why Lizard Eat Fish?

Fish provides a lot of protein and fat. Both of these nutrients are vital, along with that fish are much less deadly. Fish will not harm a lizard because most fish are not a carnivore, so they will not attack the lizard, and the fish will become easy prey. Fish mostly live in groups, so it’s a lucrative opportunity for the lizard.

A lizard can entirely live on fish itself if the lizard is lucky enough to find that many fish near where it lives. Although there will be competition from other lizards and predators, lizards are willing to take that risk if there is enough fish. In the wild, this is not always the case because that many fish is not available, so they have to look for other food. 

Only Medium And Big Lizards Eat Fish

Small lizards are not capable enough to eat fish. Rather many fishes can eat small lizards. On the other hand, lizards like monitor lizards and the Komodo dragon can almost eat any fish unless the fish is excessively larger than them. These lizards look for fish and will eat them since they are easy prey.

Medium-sized lizards like iguana are also seen to eat fish. There are also other lizards species that east fish. These lizards choose fish depending upon their size and avoid fish that are bigger than them. Giant lizards like Komodo dragon have a much better advantage because they can eat small and big fish.

If a lizard is the dominant one in that area, then the other lizard will avoid confronting the dominant lizard, which means the alpha lizards get to eat all fish there. If a Komodo dragon is out for eating fish, then iguana and even monitor lizards will move away because these Komodo dragons can eat those lizards. 

Marine Iguana Eat Fish

Marine Iguana, as the name suggests, is an iguana species that can hunt in water. Usually, lizards live on land and hunt on land, but these iguana bodies are evolved in a specific way that allows them to swim and hold the breath up to 30 minutes underwater and in that time frame they eat fish and other marine species.

These lizards are seen around water bodies, and they primarily hunt underwater. They are around a length of 60-100 cm and can weigh around 3.3 lbs. They can eat various species of fish that are smaller than their size. There are bigger fish in the water who can kill these iguanas, but regardless of that, they are pretty successful in what they do.

Can Lizard Eat Piranha?

A medium to large-sized lizard can eat piranha if a piranha is stranded or let’s say a few piranhas come near the surface. Lizards are fast, and they can catch a piranha if they are in a small group, but it won’t be possible if there is a huge group.

Piranha is also a fish, so lizard will definitely try to eat it. So, if the lizard gets the right opportunity, then the lizard will eat piranhas. A single piranha cannot harm a medium and big sized lizard, but a huge piranha group can even kill a lizard.

Piranha is one of the deadliest fish. There is a lot of myth about piranha, but they are indeed carnivores, and they have razor-sharp teeth. However, if the lizards get caught in the middle of a big piranha group, it can become troublesome, especially if the lizard is bleeding. The piranha will start attacking the lizard and can eat it.

Piranha is careful yet curious fish. If they notice something that they haven’t seen before, they will try to inspect it, and that’s how the lizard can come in close contact with piranha.

Lizard Can Eat Goldfish

A medium to large-sized lizard can eat goldfish rather a goldfish will be easy prey for them as they don’t have the necessary defense or offence to protect themselves against lizards attack. You can also feed your pet lizard goldfish if you want to do so. 

Lizards like monitor lizard, Komodo dragon, the iguana will eat goldfish easily. Lizards are mostly carnivore or omnivore, so fish is good food for them.

If you keep goldfish in your house and have pet lizard-like monitor, iguana then make sure to keep your goldfish protected because these lizards can try to eat them. The goldfish will draw their attention, the moment the lizard sees the goldfish, the lizard can try to attack it.

Although it may not get through the aquarium on the first try, but repeated effort can break the aquarium. So keep your aquarium secured if you have these lizards inside your house and keep them away from lizards sight.

Lizards Can Swallow A Whole Fish

There are big lizards like monitor lizards and a Komodo dragon that can entirely swallow a whole fish. These lizards teeth are created to tear and devour its flesh. They have serrated teeth that allow them to swallow it’s prey, much like snakes. So if the fish is not excessively big, these lizards can entirely swallow the fish.

Lizards have a powerful digestive fluid that can even digest bones of various animals. So lizard will entirely digest these fish once they are swallowed. Komodo dragon can eat 88-110 lbs of fish per day if it’s available. These lizards are giant, and they need a lot of food to survive. They can also fight against an alligator to get its food.

Can Lizard Eat Big Fish?

It depends upon the size of the lizard. If the lizard is 8 – 10 ft long and weighs around 176-220 lbs, then the lizard can take down big fish like a catfish. Catfish can be of various size, and some of them are very big.

Lizards like Komodo dragon have venom in their teeth which they inject into its prey just by biting them along with that Komodo dragon has powerful bite force (almost as strong as a lion) and can take down big catfish of 3-5 feet. 

There are even bigger fish out there that can be more than 10 ft. I don’t think these lizards will try to attack them and most likely, you cannot find those fish near the surface, so there is a very little chance that these giant lizards will contact such big fish. 

Lizards can also eat stingrays that wash up on the shore, crabs etc. All of these are part of their diet. Lizards are often seen around big water bodies because they know that they can get a lot of food if they stay near a water body.

Giant lizards like Komodo dragon have significantly less competition in the wild, so they go anywhere they please. These do not apply to all lizards because lizards like monitor lizards also face much competition, so they are cautious when near a water body. 

Lizards Can Eat Dead Fish

Lizards are both carnivores and scavengers. They don’t hesitate to eat dead meat. So if they find a dead fish, they will eat it. If a lizard finds a dead shark washed up on the shore, the lizard will start eating it. It will be like a bonus food for them. A lot of lizards will join the feast.

Their teeth are specially designed to tear meat so they can tear hard flesh of some big fish. Sometimes lots of dead fish wash up on the shore, and these lizards are seen to eat them. There can be many reasons why these fish may have died, but these lizards don’t hesitate to eat them.