Bone guy Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 Hello. I was IDing some fish jaws and I'm stumped on this one. I'm thinking sphyraenus barracuda, since this jaw came from Florida. It's 3 inches exact, tooth sockets approx 3/8'' for the larger ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indominus rex Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 To me the teeth holes do indeed look like they belong to a barracuda. Life started in the ocean. And so did my interest in fossils. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 I'm not sure what type of fish this belongs to but it is not barracuda. Your jaw shows round teeth, barracuda have lens shaped teeth. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 I know very little about fish jaws (not something I usually find). I do sort through micro-matrix from Florida quite regularly and all of the teeth that I find that are ascribed to Barracuda tend to be fairly flattened and not at all round like the tooth sockets (alveoli) shown in the first picture above. You can do a google image search on "barracuda teeth" to find all sorts of interesting (and ominous) images of Barracudas sporting mouthfuls of sharp pointies. A search even came up with a nice image from this forum from some time back. Here's a good example of some Barracuda teeth that I think will demonstrate why I don't believe the shape of the teeth seem to match my understanding of Barracuda. http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/25014-all-barracuda-teeth/ I see a lot of round "button" pharyngeal teeth from different species of drums but comparisons to online images don't really seem to match. Slow typing has made my reply show up after a more authoritative response from Al Dente. I think you can be sure that you can cross Barracuda off the list of suspects. Cheers. -Ken 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bone guy Posted March 1, 2018 Author Share Posted March 1, 2018 I learn something new everyday. Ok so since it's not barracuda this just got way more confusing. I don't see how it can be drum because the holes get progressively smaller as you go up the jaw which I thought was more characteristic of predatory fish hmm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 Perhaps Sphyraenodus(basically a stab in the dark)? Istiophorid? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bone guy Posted March 1, 2018 Author Share Posted March 1, 2018 I can't find any pictures of a sphyraenodus jaw bone for comparison but I certainly am starting to lean towards istiophoridae. Maybe wahoo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 Here's an online photo of a Wahoo jaw from the Calvert Cliffs: https://calvertmarinemuseumpaleontology.wordpress.com/2014/01/12/daily-fossil-photo-weekend-wahoo/ I haven't fished in decades and never in saltwater but from what I can see online Wahoo teeth also appear to be more of the flattened triangular shape similar to Barracuda (but more evenly sized and regularly spaced). Still seems like a bit of a mystery (which is good--we'll all learn something if we get this solved). Did you find this item yourself or was it given to you? Do you have a detailed idea of exactly where it was found? A locality might help with possible identification. Cheers. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 Atractosteus is a possibility. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 Ah, a garfish--that definitely looks like a closer match. A promising new lead! Cheers. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 For comparison: http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bone guy Posted March 1, 2018 Author Share Posted March 1, 2018 I'm now 99.99% sure this is Atractosteus. The teeth are the right size, plus I noticed there are sockets from smaller teeth scattered around which is characteristic of gar. Thanks for all the help guys, good detective work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 It's nice to learn something new each day on this forum. Cheers. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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