Seahorses and other syngnathid fishes rely on a widening of the snout to create the buccal volume increase needed to suck prey into the mouth. This snout widening is caused by abduction of the suspensoria, the long and flat bones outlining the lateral sides of the mouth cavity. However, it remains unknown how seahorses can generate a forceful abduction of the suspensoria. To understand how forc...

The New World cichlids Petenia splendida and Caquetaia spp. possess extraordinarily protrusible jaws. We investigated the feeding behavior of extreme (here defined as greater than 30% head length) and modest jaw-protruding Neotropical cichlids by comparing feeding kinematics, cranial morphology, and feeding performance. Digital high-speed video (500 fps) of P. splendida, C. spectabile, and Astr...

There has been much controversy concerning the identity of the components of the suspensorium in Siluriformes (catfishes). This confusion has implications not only for comparative morphology, but also for phylogenetic studies. The identity of the suspensorium components in catfish is reviewed here on the basis of : 1) dissections of numerous catfishes, including members of the most primitive gr...

Damselfishes show significant biodiversity in the coral reefs. To better understand such diversity, an ecomorphological approach was investigated in the trophic morphology of eight species of Pomacentridae (Chromis acares, C. margaritifer, Dascyllus aruanus, D. flavicaudus, Pomacentrus pavo, Plectroglyphidodon johnstonianus, Pl. lacrymatus and Stegastes nigricans) belonging to different trophic...

the osteology of the suspensorial and opercular series in representatives of 49 genera and 41 families of eurypterygian fishes were studied. the suspensorium consists of the palatine, ectopterygoid, endopterygoid, metapterygoid, quadrate, symplectic, and hyomandibular bones. the hyomandibular foramen is present at the base of the anterior head. the opercular series consists of the preopercle, s...

Direct development in amphibians is an evolutionarily derived life-history mode that involves the loss of the free-living, aquatic larval stage. We examined embryos of the direct-developing anuran Eleutherodactylus coqui (Leptodactylidae) to evaluate how the biphasic pattern of cranial ontogeny of metamorphosing species has been modified in the evolution of direct development in this lineage. W...

The features and morphometrics of the sailfish's osteocranium are examined in this study (Istiophorus platypterus, Shaw & Nodder, 1792). I. platypterus has a total weight ±20 kg with length ±218 cm. stages research process included preparing samples, osteocraniums, documenting photos, editing images, identifying terminology related to osteocraniums. Laboratory Mathematics Natural Sciences a...

Hornyhead turbot, Pleuronichthys verticalis (Pleuronectiformes: Pleuronectidae), are morphologically asymmetrical teleosts with substantial bilateral asymmetry in the neurocranium, suspensorium and anterior jaws. In order to quantify the kinematics of prey capture and to test for functional bilateral asymmetries, four individuals of this species were video-taped feeding using a high-speed video...