November 23, 2014
"*CRACK* Yum" — direct quote from the shellcracker chinquapin
This is the unusually-named shellcracker chinquapin (Lepomis microlopha), a beautiful little sunfish from all over North America. What’s even greater is its alternative name, the “cherry gill.”
Not surprisingly, the chinquapin’s favorite food is snails. It uses its sharp teeth to crack ’em open. It scans the entire riverbed and the plants and everything just for snails. Escargot, anyone?
When the snails reach the fish’s throat, they’re crunched by sharp pharyngeal teeth, which are hard, moveable plates in the throat.
Yuck.
The good news is, this fish is beautiful and, in my opinion, pretty cute.
(But weird.)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment