The tissues of which the teeth of Fishes are composed are (1) dentine, which is a non-vascular, calcified tissue, traversed by numerous radiating, branched, dentinal tubuli, into which extend protoplasmic prolongations from the cells (scleroblasts) by which the dentine is secreted. Dentine forms the greater part of the body of a tooth. (2) vasodentine and (3) osteodentine are modifications of ordinary dentine, the former containing blood-vessels ramifying in its substance but no dentinal tubules, and the latter more closely resembling bone. (4) enamel, an exceptionally dense, non-vascular, non-tubular tissue, which may or may not exhibit traces of the prismatic structure so characteristic of this tissue in the higher Vertebrates, forms the outer investment of the teeth.
Fig. 151.—Transverse section through the lower jaw of an embryo Scyllium, to show the gradual transition from dermal spines (d, d, d) on the outer surface of the jaw to teeth (t, t, t) on the oral surface. c, Cartilage of the lower jaw. (From Gegenbaur.)
As regards their fixation, the more primitive forms of teeth, such as those of Elasmobranchs, are simply embedded in the gums, and are only connected with the jaws by fibrous tissue; but in some of the older fossil Sharks the fixation of the teeth is effected by the mutual articulation of the basal plates of the teeth with one another. The Chondrostean Polyodon, so shark-like in many other respects, also has teeth implanted basally in the gums, and quite free from any special connexion with the jaw-bones. In some Teleosts with movable teeth, the latter are merely attached to the jaws by fibrous, and often elastic, ligaments, as in the Pike (Esox) and the Angler-Fish (Lophius). As a rule, however, the teeth are directly ankylosed to the bones developed in relation with the jaws. Very rarely, as, for example, in some Characinidae, are the teeth implanted in sockets.
Nearly all Fishes are polyphyodont, that is, the old teeth are constantly replaced by new teeth as fast as they become worn down or fall out. In the Sharks and Dog-Fishes, for example, where the teeth are arranged in rows parallel to the axis of each jaw, the functional teeth along the upper edge of the jaw are usually erect, while those in the rows more internally situated point inwards towards the oral cavity; and behind these again there are rows of developing teeth in different stages of growth, and partially hidden beneath a projecting fold of the oral mucous membrane (Fig. 152). As the teeth in use become lost they are successively replaced by the inner rows, which, with the mucous membrane in which they are embedded, move forwards to the edge of the jaw, where they become erect and functional. The teeth of the Holocephali and of the Dipnoi are not shed, but the loss which they sustain through wear and tear is made good by persistent growth at their bases. In the Teleostomi the succession is less regular, new teeth being formed between or at the bases of the old teeth. In the case of socketed teeth the succession is usually vertical, the new teeth being formed at the sides of the old ones; and by the absorption of the bases of the latter, the former come to lie directly below them, and eventually they occupy the same sockets.
Fig. 152.—Transverse section through the jaw of a Shark (Carcharias), showing how the teeth are replaced. c, Cartilage of the jaw; t, functional tooth; t′, its immediate successor; t", t", still younger teeth, covered by the fold of mucous membrane, m. m. (From Ridewood.)
As might be expected from the remarkable diversity in the habits and in the food of different Fishes, the teeth exhibit an equally striking diversity in form, size, and structure. The most primitive type of tooth resembles an ordinary dermal spine, and is little more than a simple pointed cone. A few Elasmobranchs and many Teleostomi possess teeth of this kind. By the flattening of the cone parallel to the axis of the jaw, the tooth becomes triangular, and then the margins may either remain smooth and trenchant, or they may become complicated by the formation of marginal serrations or of accessory basal cusps, and by such modifications the characteristic teeth of most Elasmobranchs are formed. The simple cone may also be modified to form crushing teeth—short, blunt, more or less hemispherical teeth—or even transformed into a mosaic of hexagonal plates, as in the Myliobatidae amongst Elasmobranchs. Massive, flattened, scroll-like crushing teeth are also formed by the fusion of adjacent teeth, or of several successional teeth, and of such composite teeth we have examples in the Heterodontidae and in the Palaeozoic Cochliodontidae. By a somewhat similar process of concrescence the anomalous composite teeth of such Teleosts as the Diodons and Tetrodons, and of the Parrot-Fish (Scarus), have been evolved. The singular dental structures of the Holocephali are probably composite teeth, and it is certain that the highly characteristic teeth of the Dipnoi have resulted from the basal fusion of primitively distinct simple conical denticles. The dentition is often heterodont. In Heterodontus (Cestracion), for example, the anterior teeth in each jaw are pointed and prehensile, while the hinder ones are scroll-like and crushing. Prehensile and crushing molar-like teeth are also present in such Teleosts as many of the Sparidae, and in the Wolf-Fish (Anarrhichas). The existence of sexual differences in the dentition is illustrated in the Skates and Rays (Raia), where teeth which are simple and pointed in the male become flattened and plate-like in the female. A few Teleosts, like the Syngnathidae, Cyprinidae, and some Siluridae, are entirely devoid of jaw-teeth.
In addition to jaw-teeth, many Teleosts possess pharyngeal or gill-teeth, developed in connexion with the inner margins of the branchial arches, to which they are usually firmly ankylosed (Figs. 352, 412 and 413). As a rule "the pharyngeal dentition is inversely proportional to the extent of tooth development on the jaws."[[225]] Pharyngeal teeth differ greatly in size and structure in different Teleosts, and, like the jaw-teeth, they are capable of replacement by vertical succession. The teeth are sometimes restricted to the inferior pharyngeal bones (cerato-branchials of the last branchial arch), and then, as in the Carp (Cyprinus), they may bite against a callous pad on the under surface of the basioccipital bone; or, as in some of the Wrasses (Labrus), the inferior teeth are opposed to superior teeth on the upper pharyngeal bones (pharyngo-branchials of more or fewer of the branchial arches). When pharyngeal teeth are present it is probable that they are the principal masticatory organs, the jaw-teeth being used for seizing or holding the prey.
Alimentary Canal.