Scientists find Dracula-fish in Burma

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Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:33:24 GMT

The Danionella dracula
Researchers have found a fish with Dracula-like fangs, which they believe is one of the most interesting recently-identified vertebrates.

The 17mm-long fish, which was found in a stream near Mogaung in Burma, is the only one of its kind to have bones projecting through the skin that resemble real teeth.

Writing in the Royal Society's journal Proceedings B, scientists at London's Natural History Museum say the males use their fangs to jostle each other, but they do not bite.



"When you watch them in captivity you can see the males sparring," BBC quoted NHM's Ralf Britz as saying.

"They display with their lower jaws open incredibly widely, then they nudge each other; but we don't see any wounds."

Scientists say the translucent fish is the only known species of over 3,700 types of carp-like fish to have evolved with teeth.

"The teeth that Danionella dracula has are very surprising because none of the other 3,700 species in the Cypriniform group have any teeth in their jaws,” said Dr. Ralf Britz of London's Natural History Museum.

"In fact, they lost their jaw teeth about 50 million years ago in the Upper Eocene Period. Danionella dracula, however, evolved its own dracula-like teeth structures by growing them from the jaw bones rather than re-evolving jaw teeth," he explained.

HRF/TE/HGH