Interesting Fact About Small Aquarium Fish and Teeth

[Kiara1125]

I've been told (even by some people on this forum) that small aquarium fish do not have teeth, but they grind up their food using plates in their mouth. Well, that may be true for many fish, but not for Tetras. I've fpund out that Tetras are part of the Piranha family, and I was interested in that. Unfortunately, I forgot about it and didn't look more into it. But now, I was looking up information about Shrimp on Planet Inverts Home .:. Freshwater Aquarium Shrimp, Crystal Red Shrimp, Red Cherry Shrimp, Crayfish and more. and found something interesting. Now tell me, who else sees teeth on this little Cardinal Tetra?? *Photo is property of Peter Maquire at PlanetInverts.com.

Link to photos by Peter Maquire. Photos by Peter Maquire .:. A Macro Photography Exhibit

 

[Thyra]

That picture is "macro photography" and IMO doesn't really seem relevant to teeth in neon tretras the way most of us know them. I had started a thread some time back and really, except for OC's input, never got my question answered about how the normal 2 - 4 inch community fish actually "torn another fish to pieces". What I see is the fish may charge one another and the other swims away. If they have any contact, it seems to me its merely "bumping' the other fish'. I have serpaes with angels and female bettas and have seen no fin damage and actually no interaction - and they are right by my computer where I spend a lot of time. I have one tank with a betta and angel in with no problems. I have two tanks with a betta and a couple of otos in each and the otos are definitely not bothered by the betta and they all have all their fins. To tell you the truth, I really wonder if their teeth are farther back in their throats how they would be able do to any really damage at all - expect of course if they are crowded and can corner a fish and either beat them to death to stress them out.

 

[climbingperch]

it makes sense.... if its a preditory species, regardless of size then its going to need teeth to catch its prey.... i've heard that species that eat plant matter such as algae have plates as they need to grind food into a paste before they can swallow it...... teeth also help to bit "chunks" out of flesh or tear a blackworm in half.....

 

[climbingperch]

then again big fish have bigger teeth than small neon tetras so i know who would be the concern in a small fish tank....!!!!

 

[OrangeCones]

I've been told (even by some people on this forum) that small aquarium fish do not have teeth, but they grind up their food using plates in their mouth.

I would say that MOST small aquarium fish do not have mouth teeth, but not all.

Paracheirodon axelrodi (Cardinal Tetra) often have only top teeth.

 

[skjl47]

Hello; This thread jared one of my remaining brain cells. I seem to recall that tetras were called the "toothed fish". To be more sure before posting I did a search. It seems that the clasification process has moved on again and groups of fish species have been moved around. Here is the address of of one site that came up in the search.
Characidae - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[ryanoh]

Are tetras and piranha not closely related? I read that somewhere I think. If its true, then it makes sense to me that they'd have teeth, though not as predominant ones as piranhas and pacu.

 

[Kiara1125]

Hey ryanoh!! Haven't seen you on in a while. How's it going?? Anywho, I've heard that Tetras and Piranhas are in the same family. And yes, I agree. The teeth aren't as predominant as Pacus or Piranhas. IME, I've never had my Neons nip at other fishes fins. They just LOVE their little Hikari Micro Wafers.

Skjl, many Tetras have teeth. For example, this Vampire Tetra. (Evil things, I swear) They're sold as aquarium fish at some places.

 

[SlateSpider]

Random fact concerning creatures having teeth: Did you guys know that ducks have teeth?

Here, you can barely see the teeth along the inside of the bill...

 

[OrangeCones]

Did you guys know that ducks have teeth?

Birds do not have teeth. On a duck's bill, it is called 'pecten.' They are used for preening their feathers and some are used to help grip/hold fish etc. that they would eat, depending on the species.

 

[SlateSpider]

Well, ok then!!!

 

[Thyra]

I still don't have an answer to my specific question: How do small community FW fish nip, tear and rip fins apart considering most of us agree they have no real teeth?? Surely if I tried using just my lips I couldn't do any real damage or hang on to anything and something as thin as a fin would just slip right out. lol Actually when I have found a dead fish, in spite of the fact the body may have started to deteriorate, the fins appear intact. I am starting to think stress has more to do with it than any supposed nipping. Could they be flailing their opponent?? To me it really is a mystery

 

[OrangeCones]

Fish have much more substansive 'lip' tissue than humans do. Their 'lips' can and do tear fins and scales off other fish if there is a fight (over territory, mates, or as one fish considering another fish as a food source). A friend of mine had several angels growing up in a 75 gallon tank in the hopes of getting a pair she could keep and spawn. Two did pair off and the male quickly started attacking the fins of the others in the tank. While she was hurriedly netting out the extra fish to move them to another tank, the male turned on the last 'intruder' and within seconds, had ripped the top dorsal fin completely off the fish, including a flesh wound around where the fin was. The fish recovered, but could never live again with angels. No matter the size difference, the other angels knew he was 'different' somehow and would attack him. He was not a strong swimmer but lived out a normal lifespan with a huge shoal of neons and some cory cats.

As far as finding a dead fish that still appears intact, that fish may very well have died due to other complications (stress, poor water quality, internal parasites, etc.), or could have been weakened by being attacked and had started to heal, only to die from internal injuries that would not be easily noticed.

 

[Thyra]

Thanks OC, As you said, "Birds don't have teeth" but from personal experience I can vouch to the fact that a goose can hang on pretty good with just its "lips" shall we say? One thing I wanted to clarify is the body of the fish seem to deteriorates before the fins when a fish dies - that is one of the reasons I thought fins were stronger than they apparently are.

 

[OrangeCones]

The flesh around the digestive tract is the first to decay, due to the natural bacteria that lives in the 'gut' of any animal. I didn't like the biology class in high school, but that fact remains with me 20+ years later!