Can fish choke on their food?

So yesterday I noticed a somewhat disconcerting sight. I was feeding the puffs with frozen bloodworms yesterday evening, and I saw that one of them had a bloodworm hanging from his gill. I watched him struggle to suck back into his mouth, and after trying a few times it seems he was successful. Fast forward a few hours later and I notice a dead puff. No physical signs of trauma, no issues with parasites or sickness, and all water parameters were acceptable. In fact, I honestly thought the dead puff was actually alive, due to the fact that it was healthy looking and still had color.

So, I figured that the puff I observed 'choking' had met an untimely death due to feeding time. Is that a possiblilty?

Wow,never heard of that before. But anything is a possibility

Yes, I've seen fish choke on food before. I've never whiteness a death due to choking. Perhaps the fishes gill plates where damaged somehow!?!

I know it happens with Geophagus quite often when they are kept over gravel. A piece too large gets caught in the back of their mouth and they usually pass on if you don't preform a pebbleoctomy.

Absolutely they can.
I had an oscar choke on large river stones. I had to save him.

a pebblectomy  that is funny.

Hey, it's a technical term!

I think that fish can definitely choke on food. They can also choke on other random stuff too. I had a very gravid female guppy once who tried to eat everything. I noticed that she was struggling at the bottom of the tank ... she had a piece of my hair caught in her mouth! It was tangled around her mouth and was coming out of her gills.

Had a not seen it in time, I'm sure she certainly would've died. Now I am extra careful when I am around my tanks to make sure I don't accidentally leave anything behind!