Life Sciences Commons^™

Feeding Mechanism And Functional Morphology Of The Jaws Of The Lemon Shark Negaprion Brevirostris (Chondrichthyes, Carcharhinidae), Philip J. Motta, Timothy C. Tricas, Robert E. Hueter, Adam P. Summers

Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

This study tests the hypothesis that preparatory, expansive, compressive and recovery phases of biting behavior known for aquatically feeding anamniotes are conserved among extant elasmobranch fishes. The feeding mechanism of the lemon shark Negaprion brevirostris is examined by anatomical dissection, electromyography and high-speed video analysis. Three types of feeding events are differentiated during feeding: (1) food ingestion primarily by ram feeding; (2) food manipulation; and (3) hydraulic transport of the food by suction. All feeding events are composed of the expansive, compressive and recovery phases common to aquatically feeding teleost fishes, salamanders and turtles. A preparatory phase is occasionally observed …