Re feeding and survival:
Its hard to tell from the description. Are portions of rthe dentaries
intact ? Can the fish still close its mouth (using muscles rather than
premax) ?
If so, there's a chance it could survive. If not, prognosis does not sound
good.
>>>Years ago a note was published in (I think) Transactions of the
American Fisheries Society concerning a "mouthless" river carpsucker.
The fish had evidently (based on the morphology) suffered trauma-in-
some earlier time such that it lost a substantial part of the tissues
around the mouth. It had healed with just a small hole in place of the
mouth, and everything else in that area was scar tissue.
The authors presumed that the fish fed on plankton or soft, silty
sediments (quite possible for a carpsucker, of course).<<<
"Mouthless" suckers are a special interest of mine.
They have been documented since 1875 - all from the deep South (we're very
proud!).
I had one in captivity for one night, made a video of it, and brought it to
the NANFA meeting in Jackson. You can read about it here:
Hoover, J.J. and K.J. Killgore. 2001. The smallest-mouth buffalo. American
Currents 27(2): 1-4.
For an exciting and thought-provoking description of mouthless cypriniformes
from our neighbor to the west, see:
George, S.G., J.J. Hoover, and N.H. Douglas. 1996. Two mouthless
cypriniform fishes from Louisiana. Texas J. Sci. 48(3): 243-246.
- Jan Hoover
Vicksburg, MS
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