Fish Jaws Gone Off-Kilter

Lake Tanganyika cichlids in the news! A recent study performed by Thomas Stewart and Craig Albertson discusses the strange skeletal anatomy of the Perissodini cichlids, who feed themselves by biting the scales off other fish. These fish often have a mouth that is shifted to one side to make it easier to remove scales from their prey. The study suggests that this evolution comes from how these fish hunt and where they live, and not every Perissodini is born with a mouth off to one side. The scientists wonder whether the shape of the fish’s face changes over its lifetime, or if the fish with centered mouths just die off because they are not as effective at hunting as the fish with the lopsided mouths. They believe further research into the Perissodini fishes will help them better understand the Perissodini, and ‘handed-ness’ among vertebrates in general.
Read the abstract or download the article.