Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1891-07-23
HOW FISHES EAT.
Interesting Things for the Boys
and Girls to Know.

The sea urchin has five teeth in five
jaws lone in each jaw-all the five i'm
mediately surrounding the stomach.
The jaws have peculiar centralized
motions, all turning inward and down
ward. so that they nlso act as feeders.
Snails have teeth on their tongues,
hundreds of them, but, as IL these were
not enough, some have them also in thei,
stomach
The cuttle-fish, which among other
strange things always walks with Its
head downward. does not chew its food
at all, but IN sticates with its gizzard.
The ray, or skate, has mouth set
transversely across its head. the jaws
working with rolling motion like two
hands set back to back. In the jaws are
three rows of fiat teeth, like mosaic
pavement, and between these rolling
jaws the fish brushes oysters and other
mollusks, like so many nnts.
The carp's teeth are set back on the
pharynx. so that it may be literally said
to masticate Its food in the throat. The
carp, too, is about the only cud chewing
fish, the coarsely swallowed food being
forced up to these throat teeth for COM
plete mastication.
Some fishes are absolutely toothless,
like the sucker and the lamprey; others
again have hundreds and hundreds of
teeth, sometimes so many that they cover
all parts of the mouth.
The great Greenland whale has no
teeth, its baleen plates, or whalebonc.
taking their place. Along the centre Of
the palate runs strong ridge, and on
each side of this there is wide deprcs-
sion along which the plates are inserted.
These are long and fiat, 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 whalebonc, but the inner edges are
fringed, filling up the interior of the
mouth ana acting as "A strainer for the
food, which consists of the small swim
ming mollusks and meduse or Jelly.
fishes. s-.i--. ---a-----------,----
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 requires. On
the other hand the narwhal very seldom
develops more than one, the left upper
eouAhSs ~ up III viz AhNN W
numbers by the extraordinary growth
attained by this one tooth. 1t grows out
and right forward. on line with the
body, until il becomes veritablc tusk,
sometimes reaching the length Of ten
Iect
The river dolphin of South America
has 222 teeth.
III Tyhe, sturgeon. is. toothless.. and. .draIAss
hundreds of teeth set in rows that some
times number ten.
HOLSTERS and crabs masticate their
food with their horny jaws, and they
have also let's OF teeth in their stomachs.
where they complete the work of chew
ing.
There is one peculiar kind of crab.
called the king or horseshoe crab. which
chews its food with its legs. This is an
actual fact. the little animal grinding its
morsels between its thighs before it
passes them over to It's mouth.
The jelly fish absorbs Its food by wrap
ping itself around the object which it
seeks tn make its own. The star-tsh is
even more accommodating. Fastening
Itself 10 the body it wishes to feed on. it
turns its stomach inside out and enwraps
its prey with this useful organ.
The clam feeds with siphon, and the
oyster with its beard.