Tag Archive for 'Dragonfish' | Sci.News

Deep-sea fishes living in darkness have evolved unique predation and communication mechanisms involving bioluminescence and other strategies. Another adaptation is the transparency of the teeth of several species, which is hypothesized to provide stealth for predation. Velasco-Hogan et al investigated the transparent teeth of Aristostomias scintillans and discovered that it is due to the mixture of nanocrystalline and amorphous phases in both its enamel-like and dentin layers and the absence of tubules. This structure significantly decreases the Rayleigh scattering of the hydroxyapatite-collagen mixture. Image credit: Velasco-Hogan et al, doi: 10.1016/j.matt.2019.05.010.

Why Deep-Sea Dragonfish Has Transparent Teeth

Jun 10, 2019 by News Staff

A species of dragonfish called Aristostomias scintillans is a voracious predator of the deep sea with an arsenal of tools to hunt prey. It has proportionately...