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Some Moray Eels Have Two Sets of Jaws
mikesd81 writes that the Mercury News reports that scientists at UC Davis have discovered that some eels have an extra set of jaws deep in their throats that launch forward into their mouths to help pull prey in. "'It looks like a funny pair of forceps with curved sharp teeth,' said evolutionary biologist Rita Mehta, lead author of the research, which appears Thursday in Nature. Before the discovery, scientists thought that all aquatic predators swallowed their prey using suction. By dropping the lower jaw and creating a flow of water into their mouths, they draw in the prey. The two species of moray eels studied by Mehta and Wainwright are the first examples of an alternative feeding method. Instead of sucking, one of these eels bites its prey with its primary set of teeth. It then draws the second set of teeth into its mouth by contracting long muscles. The secondary jaws clamp down on the prey, allowing the eel to move its primary jaws forward in a gulping motion to take in more of the prey. The two sets of jaws take turns until the whole animal has been swallowed." mikesd81 adds a link to a YouTube video of an eel eating, noting "If you look closely right around 34 seconds you can see what looks like the other set of jaws chewing."
Well, this certainly seems odd, but, heh, who am I to question the work of the Almighty? Oh, we thank you Lord for this mighty fine intelligent design! Good job!
OMG - ALIEN! Defrost Ripley RIGHT NOW!
From the original source of information and in the Journal Nature's News, these jaws are definitely not for chewing. If you look at the images of x-rays you will see that these are more 'hooks' or teeth than jaws.
In the rest of the articles, they talk about this mearly being the method by which the eel pulls the food down or holds on to it. I don't believe any fish (or snakes for that matter) really 'chew' their food.
I think what you are seeing in that video is the extra skin around the inner part of the mouth billow out as the animal attempts to suck the food in (which as mentioned, most fish do). I don't know a lot about eels so I can't verify that the eel in that video is a moray eel much less one of the kinds that have that kind of device to ingest food. There's over 200 species of moray eels so I guess it would be futile to try and verify it. Still an interesting video but I predict you would see that kind of action when any fish feeds.
My work here is dung.
When an eel bites your face, that's a moray.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
Yup, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenomorph_(Alien)
Witty Comment Here
Whatever, man. Let me know when you've found a monkey with five asses.
Okay, but the Xenomorphs of the Alien series of movies weren't eels.
That is the single stupidest thing I've read today (though it's still pretty early).
sic transit gloria mundi
Over two decades ago, I noticed a second set of jaws in a moray eel on display at a local pet store.
If I had known that such an observation was newsworthy, I'd have shown it to more than just my brother and father.
Since I see this as a non-story, I'll offer an anecdote:
Seeing the second set made me even more afraid of morays - they're creepy enough with just one set. The worst was seeing one with a body cross section similar in size to a 3 liter soda bottle just a few yards from me while SCUBA diving. Daggers for teeth. That thing could have easily killed anyone in the group. Not something you want to meet that far under water, protected only by a bathing suit and basic SCUBA gear.
BTW, even though the article makes SciFi comparisons, this article should not be categorized under SciFi. Otherwise, every subject should be categorized under SciFi (find me a subject that cannot be compared to SciFi).
This is not my sig
and the pain makes you beg
that's a moray
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey