Toothiest Mouth: This fish has 555 teeth [TKB Science]

This is the world’s largest tooth creature. This fish has 555 teeth in its mouth. Every day 20 teeth are broken, 20 teeth born out every day. These 555 teeth are set inside the mouth in two pairs of jaws in such a way that the creature trapped in them gets trapped all around. In one go, they divide their prey into pieces. Let us know, how this fish got so many teeth? Where is it found? What does it eat? Is it dangerous for humans?

This fish, which roams with the mouth with the most teeth, is called Pacific Lingcod. In a recent study, it has been told that every day 20 of its teeth break and the same comes out. How long does it take for human teeth to erupt, but here the process of tooth formation and breakage in its body is very fast.

Carly Cohen, a doctoral candidate for biology at the University of Washington, told that the bones of the mouth of the Pacific Lingcod are completely packed with teeth from the inside. In the language of this science, it is called Ophiodon Elongatus. It is a predatory fish found in the North Pacific Ocean.

The Pacific Lingcod averages 20 inches in length, but some fish can grow up to five feet. To find answers to questions like how the mouth of this fish works, how did it have so many teeth, scientists caught a fish and examined it. The mouth of this fish does not have teeth like incisors, molars and canines. There are only sharp pointed microscopic teeth.

The inner layer of its two pairs of jaws is hard, very fine teeth come out in it too. Behind each jaw set is a supporting jaw called the pharyngeal jaw. This fish breaks its prey with the help of these jaws, like humans chew something with the help of molar teeth.

Carly Cohen says that when we compare the teeth of this fish with any mammal, then we know how different it is. Its diversity makes it interesting. So we planned to study it. By studying the teeth of any organism, it can be found out what kind of food it eats. Because teeth do not erupt quickly. Their fossils also last for a long time.

The Pacific Lingcod is the only living fish whose teeth have been kept along with the fossils of dead fish. This fish takes out so many teeth from its mouth because it continuously grows back so many teeth. Carly said that we have no idea how these teeth are born and break.

Together with Carly, University of South Florida undergraduate biology student Emily Carr studied 20 Pacific Lingcod. The teeth of this fish are so small that it is very difficult to see the process of their breaking. Because it floats in the water at the bottom. Very little comes up. That’s why these people put dilute red dye in the jaws of this fish.

The jaw of the fish became red by applying red dye. After that it was placed in an aquarium that was filled with fluorescent green dye. Due to which the teeth changed back to a new color. After this, Emily Carr took this fish out of the water and kept it under the microscope in the dark lab. So that the teeth can be counted. This shows the difference between red and green teeth. It counted more than 10 thousand teeth in the mouth of 20 fish.

Emily told that during the investigation in the lab she came to know that Pacific Lingcod breaks 20 teeth from its mouth every day. Her pharyngeal jaws drop teeth every day. However, it was not known that how many teeth come out in every mouth. This study has recently been published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.