Bite and Suction Forces of the Adductor Muscle in Four Sculpin Species
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Date
2014-06Author
Berentson, Madelyn
Ditsche, Petra
Gidmark, Nicholas J.
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To prevent constant competition across species, different species may develop different
morphologies to increase their ability to attain a certain food source within a niche. By
dissecting the adductor muscle and taking measurements in four sculpin species we can
begin to assess how their feeding styles and niches influence their jaw morphology. Many
parts of the jaw, such as the mandible, grow with the individual size of the organism,
contributing to an ability to consume bigger prey. The advantages of more bite force for
crushing harder prey, such as in Enophrys bison, are compared to the advantages of
higher velocity and fluid flow in the buccal cavity, such as in the suction using
Myoxocephalus polyacanthocephalus. We also found that bigger adductor muscles does
not actually lead to larger gape angles, but in fact decreases the maximum gape angles.