It is probable that the postprandial gastrointestinal hyperemia is influenced by, or depends on, neural components, either extrinsic (sympathetic and/or parasympathetic) or intrinsic (enteric) to the gastrointestinal tract. A few studies have revealed an extrinsic neural component that directly influences the postprandial hyperemia in rats (Rozsa and Jacobson, 1989) Accepted 20 May 2010 SUMMARY The control of the gastrointestinal hyperemia that occurs after feeding in most animals is of fundamental importance for the subsequent absorption, metabolism and redistribution of nutrients. Yet, in fish, it has received little attention and the nature of it is far from clear. We sought to investigate the importance of extrinsic and intrinsic innervation of the gastrointestinal tract in the regulation of gastrointestinal blood flow in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). The contribution of the extrinsic innervation, i.e. by the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system, was examined by comparing the response to the injection of a predigested nutrient diet into the proximal intestine of untreated fish with the response in fish in which the splanchnic and vagal innervation of the gut had been removed. We also injected the predigested nutrient diet into anaesthetized fish treated with tetrodotoxin that would block the intrinsic innervation of the gut (i.e. enteric nervous system). Our results confirm the notion that the sympathetic portion of the extrinsic innervation maintains the basal vascular tone, but neither the splanchnic nor the vagal innervation is fundamental to the postprandial hyperemia. However, the tetrodotoxin treatment completely abolished the postprandial hyperemia, indicating the importance of the enteric nervous system. In conclusion, it seems as though the enteric nervous system is essential to the regulation of the postprandial hyperemia, and that the extrinsic innervation is involved mainly in the regulation of gastrointestinal blood flow under normal conditions and in response to central coordination with other organs.