The oddities at the bottom of the sea

Nov 10, 2016

The oddities at the bottom of the sea                
 
As well as heads of the five known UK species of the deepwater catshark Apristurus, there were 2 whole specimen that did not really well match any of them. Are they simply extreme forms of one of the others? A new record of the area of a species known elsewhere? A re species? These have now gone to the NHM collection, but not before i have taken measurements and DNA samples. Unfortunately with only 2 examples, I felt it too damaging to take samples of teeth and skin (yet)

Jürgen and Moya Meredith Smith like this.

2 comments

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Moya Meredith Smith

An xray will tell you that without damage, do you have access to a portable one as I believe there is one at the NHM?

Nov 10, 20160

Charlie UnderwoodResearcher

I am fixing them so will try to CT scan one; species are identified on such characters as numbers of vertebrae and spiral valves in the gut.

Nov 10, 20160

Matt KolmannBacker

nice!!!

Nov 10, 20160

Charlie UnderwoodResearcher

And the squalene oil was so nice to my hands...

Nov 10, 20160

About This Project

Tooth plates in chimaeras and their relationship to teeth in sharks

Birkbeck College, London and Natural History Museum, London

The chimaeras (ghost sharks and spookfish) are a group of often deep sea fishes related to the sharks and rays. Unlike sharks, chimaeras have large, continuously growing tooth plates. These tooth plates have a very different structure to the teeth of sharks, or indeed any other fish. Within the teeth are sheets, rods and 'beads' of hard material that forms the cutting and biting surfaces. We shall be investigating the structure and development of these teeth and relating it to teeth of sharks.