Is there any benefit to cook a fish whole other than presentation?

I have a pretty retro fish-themed cookbook and a lot of the recipes are centred around baking, frying, poaching etc. a whole fish; head, tail, everything (minus the guts, of course). Is there any culinary benefit to cooking a fish this way? It seems like it would be a pain to try and scour through all the little bones, and frankly I find eating something with the head still attached just a little creepy. But, if it imparts some incredible flavour or helps keep the fish moist I’d be willing to try it. via /r/Cooking https://ift.tt/2uBg6IV