NANFA-L-- Use of pharyngeal teeth in minnow identification
Dan Johnson (danjohns-in-io.com)
Sun, 27 Aug 2006 20:36:15 -0500
I'm curious if any of you actually use pharyngeal teeth counts for
minnow identification. The counts seem to be a very good attribute for
distinguishing species. I've tried several times with 2" minnows only
to end up with a pile of mush and not sure I've found anything. Today I
decided to try with some bigger fish. So I went out and caught a two
foot grass carp. I dissected it and was able to find the distinctive
pharyngeal teeth that species possesses. I was able to find four and
five teeth attached on the two sides, but only found one or two teeth of
the 2nd row on one side. And there were 2-3 loose teeth the origin of
which is uncertain. Too much slimy tissue all over the place and lots
of effort to clean things off so things can be seen. I put the arches
in a plastic bag and left outside to let the maggots clean things up a
bit and I'll have another look. Should I keep trying? Thanks in
advance.
--Dan
/-----------------------------------------------------------------------
/ This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes
/ Association (NANFA). Comments made on this list do not necessarily
/ reflect the beliefs or goals of NANFA. For more information about NANFA,
/ visit http://www.nanfa.org Please make sure all posts to nanfa-l are
/ consistent with the guidelines as per
/ http://www.nanfa.org/guidelines.shtml To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get
/ help, visit the NANFA email list home page and archive at
/ http://www.nanfa.org/email.shtml