Pharyngeal teeth

Pharyngeal teeth are tooth-like structures on modified arches in the throat that grip, crush, or grind food. They occur in several fish groups and are distinct from teeth in the jaws.

Pharyngeal jaw: A set of throat bones and muscles that moves food and may bear pharyngeal teeth. It carries and moves the teeth that process food behind the mouth.
Herbivory in fishes: Plant-based feeding by fishes, often involving specialized ways to bite, scrape, or grind vegetation. Broad pharyngeal teeth can help grind plant material after it is bitten.
Cichlidae: The family of fishes commonly called cichlids, native largely to tropical fresh waters. The family includes lineages with extensively specialized pharyngeal teeth and jaws.
Oral teeth: Teeth located in the mouth, typically on the jaws or palate. They occupy the mouth, whereas pharyngeal teeth act in the throat.
Gill arch: A curved skeletal support in the throat that supports gills and related structures. Pharyngeal teeth develop on modified arches in this skeletal series.
Molluscivory: A feeding strategy centered on eating mollusks such as snails and bivalves. Robust pharyngeal teeth can crush the hard shells of mollusks.
Labridae: The fish family containing wrasses and their relatives, many of which have pharyngeal jaws. Wrasses provide a separate evolutionary example of pharyngeal food-processing structures.
Tooth plate: A broad, often fused or closely packed tooth-bearing structure used to crush food. Lungfish tooth plates perform a similar role but differ in form from rows of teeth.
Cichlid: A diverse family of freshwater fishes, many known for specialized feeding structures and behaviors. Cichlids show how pharyngeal teeth can form a powerful food-processing apparatus.
Piscivory: A feeding strategy in which animals prey on fish. Pointed pharyngeal teeth can help retain slippery prey during swallowing.

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