Meet the fish with 555 teeth









Most people consider smiling a sign of happiness or friendliness. But if you ever meet this particular fish you might think otherwise.

The Pacific lingcod is a predatory fish and has an amazing 555 teeth! They can be as small as 20 inches or as large as 5 feet. 

The way the teeth work in these fish is equally strange. Most of the teeth are small, almost microscopic. But behind those lies another set that they use for chewing. Basically, every boney structure in them has teeth. 

Scientists have recently discovered something else unique about the Pacific lingcod; they lose about 20 of those teeth every day. To find this out, scientists kept subjects in an aquarium and added red dye to the water as to stain the teeth red.

Later, they switched over to another aquarium with green dye added. They then proceeded to pick up all of the teeth in both aquariums to count them.

We still don't know why they lose so many teeth but considering that teeth are one of the fossils that are commonly found, this could help us understand how this fish evolved and to what purpose they lose so many teeth each day. Gotta love nature! 

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