A species of fish known as the Pacific reed has about 555 teeth, and a new study shows that these fish shed their teeth at an astonishing rate, about 20 a day.
“Every bony surface in their mouth is covered with teeth,” said senior author Karly Cohen, a doctoral student in biology at the University of Washington in the US.
The Pacific relic has a total of more than 500 teeth.
The Pacific lintfish (Ophiodon elongatus), also known as the arhat, is a predatory fish found in the North Pacific Ocean. It is 50 cm long at maturity, but some fish reach 1.5 m.
You may not know it from the outside, but this fish has one of the scariest mouths in the world.
Instead of incisors, molars, and fangs, these fish have hundreds of sharp, almost microscopic teeth on their jaws. Their hard palate is also covered with hundreds of small toothed stalactites. And behind one set of jaws is another set of extra jaws, called pharyngeal jaws, which fish use to chew food the same way humans use molars.
The mouth of the Pacific reed fish is relatively normal for a bony fish.
Cohen and lead author of the study Emily Carr, a student at the University of South Florida, kept 20 Pacific relic fish in tanks at the University of Washington lab.
Since the teeth of Pacific reed fish are very small, it is not easy to find out how quickly these fish lose their teeth.
Research at the University of South Florida and the University of Washington set out to learn more about the reliquary process by placing the reliquary in a tank filled with a dilute red dye, which reddens the fish’s teeth. The researchers then transferred the fish to a tank filled with fluorescent green dye to stain the teeth again.
So the teeth that come in one day are red, while the teeth that come out later are green.
The researchers then meticulously counted and classified all the colored teeth of 20 specimens, yielding a total of 10,580 teeth.
They found that the fish shed an average of about 20 teeth per day, Carr said.
“They made us think that fish change teeth very quickly,” said doctoral student and co-author Karly Cohen. For you and me, it’s like waking up every morning and losing a tooth.”
The findings of this study challenge the common view that teeth are difficult to create and replace. Obviously, for some species, they are as easily lost and replaced as hair is for us
Strange in the World
The world is full of wonders and mysteries that continue to fascinate us. From peculiar creatures to extraordinary phenomena, there is no shortage of strange occurrences. One such enigmatic phenomenon can be found deep beneath the ocean’s surface – a fish with an astonishing number of teeth.
Meet the strange fish, a creature unlike any other. It is said to have up to 555 teeth, a number that seems unimaginable for a fish of its size. As if this were not enough, this peculiar creature loses 20 of its teeth every single day. The sheer magnitude of its dental structure is awe-inspiring, leaving scientists and marine enthusiasts astounded.
Found in the darkest depths of the ocean, this fish belongs to a group known as the deep-sea dwellers. These mysterious creatures thrive in the abyss, where light barely penetrates, and life takes on extraordinary forms. The strange fish is a perfect example of how nature can manifest itself in the most bizarre and captivating ways.
One might wonder why the strange fish possesses such an excessive number of teeth. Scientists speculate that it may be related to its unique feeding habits. This creature has adapted to its environment by developing a specialized diet, consisting mainly of small crustaceans and other tiny organisms. Its multitude of
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