Flagponds Pirate Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Well, yesterday I started working my part time job at the nature park again. The cliffs haven't been eroding alot so good finds are few and far between. Instead of searching along the shell line and in the surf, I decided to check a secluded sand flat. With all the wind we have been having something was bound to have been exposed. Well, I saw the most unbelievable sight, the tip of a meg tooth. But, thats all it was, a tip. But still thats the first meg tooth I've found. Now, thats not the most exciting part, I kept looking around the area and I found what looked like an incisor. I figured it was from a rodent or deer. It was fossilized so I took it to the parks fossil expert. His shout of excitement nearly made me go deaf. He said it belonged to a species of fish that ate crabs. Its front teeth were shaped like mammalian incisors. It was called a taug-taug. Apparently no one has found a taug-taug tooth in 12 years at the park. Well, needless to say I was happy. I'm gonna try to make a nice little display for it and put it on the shelves with my other curiosities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatorman Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Wheres the picture man? We wanna see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flagponds Pirate Posted February 18, 2008 Author Share Posted February 18, 2008 Yeah, I dropped my camera into the bay when a wasp stung the back of my neck. So until I get an extra $200, I cant take pics of anything. When I make its display Ill borrow my friends camera and post pictures of my entire collection. Stupid wasp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 I've heard of a fish called a tautog and that might be what the park ranger was saying. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flagponds Pirate Posted February 18, 2008 Author Share Posted February 18, 2008 That would explain why I cant find any information on the taug-taug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Hey Flagpond. If we dont get any pics, I know a guy in chicago with a violin case that will pay you a little visit!!! Ok, just kidding. But a photo would be super nice. I am really sorry to hear about your camera. RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadyW Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 Looking at a picture of a Tautog, I can't see those as incisor-like teeth: However, while Googling for that picture, I stumbled across the Sheepshead fish, which definitely looks like it has incisor-shaped teeth! ...weird looking fish! Every complex scientific problem has an elegant and simple solution... and it is wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatorman Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 I can tell your from personal experience Sheepshead bite hard! But they taste good too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shuko Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 Please tell me that fish is photoshopped... o.o It looks like it's using dentures... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cris Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 Not photoshopped.. They're pretty odd looking fishes.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimInAugusta Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 A friend recently fed me sheepshead stew with local shrimp. Mmmm. I looked at the post fillet bodies of the fish and the teeth/jaw are beaucoup cool. It did look like all the fishies were wearing dentures. Clearly a fish meant to go into harms way. Built like a T-34 tank with all the armor up front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flagponds Pirate Posted February 27, 2008 Author Share Posted February 27, 2008 Well, I guess Ill just get the tooth looked at by a local paleontologist. Maybe it is just a mammal tooth after all, Ill try to find out this friday. Ill also take pics of my collection and the tooth on friday and post them ASAP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 Sheepshead are sort of the underdog of the fishing industry in Texas along with black drum and a few others. The "country boy" incisors are often used to crunch barnacles off of rocks and pilings although they will readily eat live shrimp and fiddler crabs. The roof of the mouth is lined with peg like crusher teeth. Sheepshead are notorious bait thieves and often hit with a very subtle bite. Being structure fish, they tend to grab your bait and run for the rocks. With this in mind, when I snag the jetty rocks I often let my line go slack for a couple minutes until a hungry sheepie hooks himself and extricates my line from entanglement. I have caught and eaten hundreds of these things with my personal biggest being about 23 inches and 8 LBS although I have seen them on the boat deck at over 11 LBS. Their oval profile and large fins make for a spirited fight. While high falutin', stuffed shirt fishermen detest them, I don't mind sliding a knife past their heavy scales and strong ribs as the reward comes in the form of succulent white fillets. Much of what is sold in restaurants as a red snapper or redfish is actually sheepshead or black drum. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obsessed1 Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 Hey Flagponds Pirate! Congrats on your find I hunt there alot. It's a great place to hunt. Take that tooth to Dr. Godfrey at CMM. He will be able to ID it for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flagponds Pirate Posted March 3, 2008 Author Share Posted March 3, 2008 Alright. Got the tooth looked at by one of the paleontologists at the Calvert Marine Museum. He said it was a tautog tooth. Here are some pics I got. They are not the best quality, but they show enough detail to get a good idea. The tooth is a little less than 1/4" long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nicholas Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Really cool!! I must try to get one of those to add to my collection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatorman Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 I have several of these teeth always thought they were fossil drum teeth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Sheepshead teeth are fairly common in the miocene of California, particularly the Santa Margarita Formation of Santa Cruz County, which is a little younger than the Calvert Cliffs. I've got a bunch of those incisiform teeth, as well as 'molariform' teeth that look like piles of little enamel beads all packed into a big crushing plate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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