Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1891-08-15
HOW FISHES EAT
Interesting Things That Evs-r
OUGHT m E,o

Ought to Know.
The sea urchin has FIVE tea,b g,
laws-one in each java all TIA ~
Immediately surrounding the sfor.t'
The jaws have peculiar centrol;-.
motion al turning inward and -
ward, so that they also act al 80
SnaiIs have teeth on their ,orc.'s'
hundreds of them, but as II ,Sss
we're not enough, some have them ~
in their stomach.
The cuttle-fsh, which among o.,.
strange things always walks win -
head downward, does not chew n. 80
at ali, but mastigates with its oi,7a,s
The ray, or SKATE, has a month =.
transversly across its head the ,,w'
W orking with rolling motion ii,e ~.
hands set back to back. In the s,r.
are three rows of fat teeth. Set li,a
mosaic pavement and between tbs,.
rolling Jaws the dsh brushes ovsts,
and other mollusks, like so many pr,s
The carp's teeth are set back on II.
pharynx. so that it may be literan,
said to masticate its food in its tBroa,
The carp, too, is about the only cna
chewing fish the coarsely-swaIlow.s
food being forced up to these thro.,
teeth for comp etc mastication.
Some fishes are absolutely tootbles.
like the sucker and the lamprev; other,
again have h ndreds and hundreds n
teeth, sometimes so many that thsy
cover all parts of the mouth.
The great Greenland whale has no
teeth, its baleen plates or wha.e5opa
taking their place Along the centre
of the palace runs a strong ridge and
on each side of this there is a vida
depression along which the plates ara
inserted. These are long ana Cat
hanging free and are placed across The
mouth with their sides parallel and
near each other. The base and outer
edge of the plates are of solid whale
bone. but the inner edges are fringed
filing up the interior of the mouth
and acting as a ftrainer for the food
which consists of the small swimming
mollusks and meddsB or jelly-fsheS
While the Greenland whale has no
teeth, the sperm whale has them
| In great quantities on the lower Jaw.
and uses them, too. when occasion ~
! quires. On the other hand the mar.
whal very seldom develops more than
one, The left upper canine. 1t makes
up for the lack of numbers by the ex
traordinary growth attained by thia
one tooth. 1t grows out and righ,
forward, on a line with the body, until
It becomes a veritable tusk, sometimes
reaching the length Of ten feet
The river dolphin Of South America
has 222 teeth.
The sturgeon is toothless, and draws
in its food by suction, but the shark
has hundreds of teeth set in rows that
sometimes number ten.
Lobs'ers and crabs masticate theh
food with their horny jaws, and the!
have also sets of teeth in their stom
aehs, where they complete the WORK
OF chewing.
There is one peculiar kind OF crab
called the king or horseshoe crab
which chews its food with it's legs
This is an actual fact the little anima
grinding its morsels between its thigh
before it passes them over to 1T
mouth.
The jelly-fsh absorbs its food b.
wrapping itself around the obiec
which it seeks to make its own. TIT
star fish is even more accommodating
FASTENING itself to the body it wisheI
to feed on, it turns its stomach inside
out and enwraps its prey with tan
useful organ.
The clam feeds with siphon, and
the oyster with its beard.