We have previously shown in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) that gastric distension induces an instantaneous -adrenoceptor mediated increase in the dorsal aortic blood pressure (P_da), with no change in cardiac output (CO), gut blood flow (Q_cma) or heart rate (HR). To investigate if feeding habits affect these patterns and to compare the differences between gastric distension alone and feeding in the same experimental setting, we used the short-horn sculpin (Myoxocephalus scorpius), an inactive ambush predator with a capacity to eat large meals. An inflatable balloon was placed in the stomach of one group while another group was feed fish meat. When distending the stomach with a volume corresponding to a meal of 8-10% b.w. there is a profound and long lasting increase in systemic (R_sys; 123±27%) and gastrointestinal vascular resistance (R_cma; 82±24%), leading to an increase in P_da (19%) without any change in CO or Q_cma. After feeding there is a rapid transient increase in R_cma (24±4%), and an even larger P_da response (53%). There is also a subsequent increase in both CO (28±8%) and Q_cma (27±9%) after 30 min. By 15 h CO and Q_cma increased further (41±11% and 63±14%, respectively), and this increase persists for up to 60 h. The increase in Q_cma is mediated via both an increase in CO and a shunting of blood from the systemic circulation via a decrease in R_cma (34±7%). In conclusion, the response to mechanical distension of the stomach is similar to what we have described in rainbow trout and the postprandial gastrointestinal hyperemia is most likely chemically induced.