Does “stunting” fish negatively impact their health?

[Zionas]

Does stunting fish and having them max out at noticeably smaller sizes than their listed maximum sizes online seem to negatively impact their health? I’m obviously not taking about situations where the tank is clearly unsuitable, but say a 90-Gallon limiting the growth of a Yellow Tang to 4 inches or so when the maximum wild size is listed as 8”, or something like a Majestic Angel topping out at 6-7” in a 5ft 150 when the listed maximum wild size is 10-11”. Or some fish that just don’t get near their maximum size for whatever reason.

 

[exnisstech]

I have read that that sometimes they stop growing larger but their internal organs can continue to grow and cause health issues. This is just what I remember reading and can't even recall the source so it may or may not be correct.

 

[Waters]

I think that is in part largely a myth....most fish will not stop growing just due to tank size. Now if you are doing things like feeding less, that is totally different. I would imagine that anything that would cause stunting would negatively affect the health of the fish.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

I am pretty sure you would have to malnourish your fish for that to happen.