Extant Atelomycterus marmoratus (Coral Catshark) jaws

[MarcoSr]

Here are two jaws that I recently acquired. One jaw is 1.75 inches wide 1 inch high. The other is 1.5 inches wide .875 inches high. They both were sold as Atelomycterus marmoratus (Coral Catshark) jaws.

It was very difficult to take the following pictures because of the very small jaw sizes. I’m really not happy with the pictures at all. I definitely need a better camera setup for the very small jaws.

Here are the overall jaws:

To better see tooth details double clique the below pictures. If you mouse over the pictures you will see the file name which has additional positional information.

Teeth are similar in both jaws except that lower jaw teeth are larger than upper jaw teeth.

Upper jaw symphysis:

Lower jaw symphysis:

According to Compagno 1988 both the upper and lower jaws have 3 files of medial teeth.

Upper jaw medial teeth files (red)

Lower jaw medial teeth files (red):

Continued in the next reply:

Marco Sr.

[MarcoSr]

According to Compagno 1988, Atelomycterus marmoratus have medial teeth, anterolaterals and posteriors in both jaws.

Upper jaw extreme left and right side teeth. Per Compagno 1988, Atelomycterus marmoratus have 13-14 posterior teeth in the upper jaw. There seem to be more to me but I really don’t know where the posterior teeth begin and the anterolateral teeth end. So you can see both posteriors and anterolaterals below:

Lower jaw extreme left and right side teeth. Per Compagno 1988 Atelomycterus marmoratus have 14-16 posterior teeth in the lower jaw. There seem to be more to me but I really don’t know where the posterior teeth begin and the anterolateral teeth end. So you can see both posteriors and anterolaterals below:

Upper jaw left and right side anterolateral teeth:

Lower jaw left side anterolateral teeth:

Continued in the next reply:

Marco Sr.

Edited February 10, 2016 by MarcoSr

[MarcoSr]

Lower jaw right side anterolateral teeth:

It is really hard to see in most of the pictures but the anterolateral teeth in both the upper and lower jaw have a very small secondary cusplet in addition to a primary cusplet.

Here are pictures that show the number of rows of teeth in these jaws:

Jaw1: I can see 4 rows of upper teeth:

Jaw1: I can see at least 6 rows of lower teeth:

Jaw2: I can see 4 rows of upper teeth:

Jaw2: I can see 7 rows of lower teeth:

I was not able to get an exact count of the number of teeth in the upper and lower jaws because of the very small size of the teeth. According to Compagno Atelomycterus can have 70 to 89 teeth in the upper jaw and 67 to 74 teeth in the lower jaw.

To get a complete feel for Atelomycterus marmoratus teeth you would really need to look at a lot of different jaws from different localities.

Marco Sr.

Edited February 10, 2016 by MarcoSr

[ynot]

I, for one, am very glad that those wicked looking teeth are not the size of megalodon teeth.

Very nice Marco!

Thanks again for posting these jaws!

Tony

[SailingAlongToo]

Good job Marco. Thanks for sharing.

This coming Sunday morning probably isn't a good day for a stroll along the beaches of the Potomac. Forecast says 9-12 degrees F and breezy. BRRRR!!!! I might have to wait a few more weeks.

[MarcoSr]

I, for one, am very glad that those wicked looking teeth are not the size of megalodon teeth.

Very nice Marco!

Thanks again for posting these jaws!

Tony

Tony

When I was taking the pictures I accidentally put my finger into one of the jaws. The way the teeth point back into the jaw made it very difficult to get my finger out. If this shark bites on something, it isn't going to pull away.

Marco Sr.

[MarcoSr]

Good job Marco. Thanks for sharing.

This coming Sunday morning probably isn't a good day for a stroll along the beaches of the Potomac. Forecast says 9-12 degrees F and breezy. BRRRR!!!! I might have to wait a few more weeks.

The cold temperature isn't the only problem. The frozen beaches covered in ice make it difficult to even walk or see much. I found this meg last year when the temperature was 18F with a 12 mph wind. It was frozen solid in the sand which was like concrete.

Marco Sr.