The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1891-07-23
HOW FISHES BAT.
1atsFesting Thsngs That Every oas
Ought TO Know.

1assresttnG Thsngs That Every Oas
Ought TO Know.
| The sea urchin has five teeth i'll five
jaws-one in each jaw-all the five
Immediately surrounding the stomach.
The jaws have y peculiar centralized
motion nll turning inward and down.
ward. SO that thoy also act as feeders.
Snuils have teeth on their tongues.
hundreds of them. but Us il these
were not enough. some have them also
+, In their st, mach.
The cuttie-fish. which among other
strange things always walks with its
head downward. does not chew its food
! at ali but .;sticatej with its giEzard.
| The ray. or skate. has a mouth set
transversly across its head. the jaws
W working with n rolling motion like two
hands set back to back. In the jaws
are three rows of fat teeth, set like a
mosaic pavement. and between thee
rolling avs the fish crushes oysters
and other mollusks. like so many nuts.
The carp's tech are set back on the
pharynx. SO that it may be literally
said to masticate its food in its throat.
The carp. too. is about tho only cud
chewing fish. the coarseiy-sw;illOwed
food being forced up to these throat
teeth for comp ete masticatiOn.
Some fishes are absolutely toothless.
like the sucker and the lamprey; others
again have h ndreds 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 whalebone,
taking their place. Along the centre
OF the palate runs strong ridge, and
on each side of this there is a wide
depression 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 whale
bone. but the inner edges are fringed
filing up the interior of the mouth
and acting as strainer for the food,
which consists of the small swimming
mOllusks and medusa or jelly-tishes.
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 re-
quires. On the other hand the mar
whal very seldom develops more thar
one. the left upper canine. 1t makes
up for the lack Of numbers by the ex-
traordinary growth attained by this
one tooth. It grows out and right
forward. on line with the body. until
Il 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 feod by suction. but the shark
has hundreds Of teeth set in rows that
sometimes number ten.
Lobs:ers and crabs masticate their
food with their horny jaws. and they
have also sets Of teeth in their stom-
achs. 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 its legs.
This is an actual fact the little animal
grinding its morsels between its thighs
before It passes them over to its
mouth.
The ielly-feh absorbs its food by
wrapping itsslf around the object
which it seeks to make its own. The
star-fish is even more accommodating.
Fastening itself to the body it wishes
TO feed on. II turns its stomach inside
out and enwraps its prey with this
useful organ.
The clam feeds with siphon, and
the Oyster with its beard.