Whether fish species can adjust their physiological and behavioral traits well to the change of the environmental condition of their habitats are key for the fate of the local population. The food resource changed profoundly and became unpredictable nowadays in the Yangtze River water system due to the dramatical change of the habitat. The aim of this study is to investigate the behavioral and physiological responses of Chinese sucker (Myxocyprinus asiaticus) and qingbo (Spinibarbus sinensis) subjected to short-term fasting. To fulfill our goals, we measured the maximum acceleration swimming speed (U_cat), spontaneous shoal behavior (percent time spent moving, median swimming speed and inter-individual distance), innate immune indicator (serum lysosome activity), specific immune indicator (serum plasma IgM level), and antioxidant defense ability (serum SOD level), as well as the change of body size of either fasted or fed (as control) juveniles of Chinese sucker and qingbo for 1 or 2 week. The main results are as follows:(1) Compared to Chinese sucker, qingbo exhibited stronger swimming ability, more spontaneous activity, and higher level of plasma IgM; (2) Compared to Chinese sucker, qingbo exhibited more remarkable increase of plasma IgM and cortisol levels after fasting treatment, thus exhibited more loss in body weight after food deprivation but more gain in body weight when fed normally; (2) the SOD level ofqingbo was significantlylower than that of Chinese sucker; and (3) The lysosome activity showed no change in fasted qingbo while it increased in fasted Chinese sucker compared to normally fed conspecies. Therefore, the results of the present study suggested that:(1) Compared to Chinese sucker, qingbo possesses superior performance of physiological function as a consequence of the fast-lifestyle evolved in the fast-flow habitat, which is beneficial to the adaptation to changeof food availability; (2) The population dynamics of qingbo and Chinese sucker might be different facing the possible fluctuation in food resources as their functions of antioxidant systems and immunity exhibited diverse reaction norm to short-term food deprivation.