Scarus frenatus, the bridled parrotfish
Muraena lentiginosa, the jewel moray
Acanthurus mata, the elongate surgeonfish
Current Research
Understanding the relationship between tooth complexity and tooth function in fishes
Previous studies in mammals and reptiles have demonstrated that herbivores generally have more complex dentitions than omnivores and carnivores. This pattern is attributed to the tough, fibrous properties of things like leaves, roots, and shoots, which require greater manipulation and processing prior to digestion. Fishes demonstrate an incredible range of dental diversity, but their dentitions are vastly under-studied due in part to the challenges of continual tooth replacement, high variation in tooth form and number along the jaws, and a two-jaw system that allows for prey capture and processing to be decoupled.
To address this tooth knowledge gap, we use a combination of novel tooth functional categories, microCT scanning, and a metric called orientation patch count rotated (OPCR) within a phylogenetic comparative framework to determine whether tooth function is associated with tooth complexity across a broad sample of reef-associated fishes.
While we generally expect tooth complexity to correlate with function based on previous studies in mammals and reptiles, fishes exhibit far greater dental diversity than other vertebrates (example: see the parrotfish beak at the top of this page!). While trophic novelties such as 'beaked' dentition may lead to higher tooth complexity, these patterns may be driven more so by the novelty of fused dentition, and less so by the specific material properties of plant material.
Click here to see my talk at the 3rd Joint Congress on Evolutionary Biology further explaining these results!

