Abstract
A comparison of nineteen taxa of teleost fishes suggests the gradual acquisition of systems of upper jaw protrusion in the course of fish evolution. However, in view of the loss of protrusion in several groups of advanced teleosts the biomechanicsof protrusile jaws are analysed based on the hydrodynamics of suction feeding. Calculations show that protrusion may reduce the energy otherwise spent in a feeding act to get the predator's mouth as near to the prey in the same time with about 80%. Other generalized advantages and disadvantages of upper jaw protrusion are explained. Detailed ecological data to calculate the balance between pros and cons of jaw protrusion of a particular species in its habitat are still lacking. There is no incompatibility between presence and disappearance of protrusile jaws in fish and current neo-darwinistic theories of evolution.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alexander, R.McN. (1966). The functions and mechanisms of the protrusible upper jaws of two species of Cyprinid fishes.- J Zool London 149: 288–296.
Alexander, R.McN. (1967). The functions and the mechanisms of the protrusible upper jaws of some acanthopterygian fish.- J Zool London 151: 43–64.
Anker, G.Ch. (1974). Morphology and kinetics of the head of the stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus.- Trans Zool Soc London 32: 311–416.
Barel, C.D.N. (1983). Towards a constructional morphology of cichlid fishes (Teleostei, Perciformes).- Neth J Zool 33: 357–424.
Gosline, W.A. (1968). The suborders of perciform fishes.- Proc US Natl Mus 124: 1–78.
Gosline, W.A. (1971). Functional morphology and classification of teleostean fishes.- Honolulu: Univ Press of Hawai, 208 p.
Gosline, W.A. (1980). The evolution of some structural systems with reference to the interrelationships of modern lower teleostean fish groups.- Jap J of Ichthyology 27: 1–27.
Hasselt, M.J.F.M. van (1978). A kinematic model for the jaw movements in some Labrinae (Pisces, Perciformes).- Neth J Zool 28: 545–558.
Lauder, G.V. (1979). Feeding mechanics in primitive teleosts and the halecomorph Amia calva.- J Zool London 187: 543–578.
Leeuwen, J.L. van (1984). A quantitative study of flow in prey capture by Rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri with general considerations of the actinopterygian feeding mechanism.- Trans Zool Soc London 37: 171–227.
Leeuwen, J.L. van, and Muller, M. (1984). Optimum sucking techniques for predatory fish.- Trans Zool Soc London 37: 137–169.
Liem, K.F. (1967). Functional morphology of the head of the anabantoid teleost fish Helostoma temmincki.- J Morph 121: 135–158.
Liem, K.F. (1979). Modulatory multiplicity in the feeding mechanism in cichlid fishes, as exemplified by the invertebrate pickers of Lake Tanganyika.- J Zool London 189: 93–125.
Liem, K.F. (1980). Adaptive significance of the intra- and interspecific differences in the feeding repertoires of cichlid fishes.- Am Zool 20: 295–314.
Magnan, P., and Fitzgerald, G.J. (1984). Mechanisms responsible for the niche shift of brookcharr, SalveZinus fontinalis Mitchell, when living sympatrically with creekchub,Semobrilus atromalaculatus Mitchell.- Can J Zool 62: 1548–1555.
Motta, P.J. (1982). Functional morphology of the head of the inertial suction feeding butterfly fish Chaetodon miliaris (Perciformes, Chaetodontidae).- J Morph 174: 283–312.
Motta, P.J. (1984). Mechanism and functions of jaw protrusion in teleost fishes: a review.- Copeia: 1–18.
Muller, M., and Osse, J.W.M. (1978). Structural adaptations to suction feeding in fish.- In Proc Zodiac-symp “On Adaptation”, 57–60. Wageningen: Pudoc.
Muller, M., Osse, J.W.M., and Verhagen, J.H.G. (1982). A quantitative hydrodynamical model of suction feeding in fish.- J Theor Biol: 49–79.
Muller, M., and Osse, J.W.M. (1984). Hydrodynamics of suction feeding in fish.- Trans Zool Soc London 37: 51–135.
Osse, J.W.M. (1969). Functional morphology of the head of the perch (Perca fluviatilis L.): an electromyographic study.- Neth J of Zool 19: 289–392.
Osse, J.W.M., and Muller, M. (1980). A model of suction feeding in teleostean fishes with some implications for ventilation.- In M.A. Ali, ed., Environmental physiology of fishes, 335–352. New York: Plenum Press.
Otten, E. (1983). The jaw mechanism during growth of a generalized Haplochromis species: H. elegans Trewawas 1933 (Pisces, Cichlidae). Neth J of Zool 33: 55–98.
Rosen, D.E. (1973). Interrelationships of higher euteleostean fishes. In P.H. Greenwood, R.S. Miles and C. Patterson, eds., Interrelationships of fishes. London: Acad Press.
Rosen, D.E. (1982). Teleostean interrelationships, morphological function and evolutionary inference.- Amer Zool 22: 261–273.
Schaeffer, M.E., and Rosen, D.E. (1961). Major adpative levels in the evolution of the actinopterygian feeding mechanism.- Am Zool 2: 187–204.
Sibbing, F.A. (1984). Food handling and mastication in the carp. Wageningen: Thesis Agricultural University, 165 p.
Zweers, G.A. (1979). Explanation of structure by optimalization and systemization.- Neth J of Zool 29: 418–440.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Osse, J.W.M. Jaw protrusion, an optimization of the feeding apparatus of teleosts?. Acta Biotheor 34, 219–232 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00046786
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00046786