This structure was found at a beach in Brazil and has dimensions of approximately 5x7cm. A friend of mine send this to me asking if it belongs to a mammal, but I'm not sure.
http://sphotos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/541382_607769815916231_1626278824_n.jpg
http://sphotos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/64887_607769912582888_1613975143_n.jpg
http://sphotos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/487237_607770169249529_1682937535_n.jpg
It is too small and weird-looking to be any marine mammal that I know. It might be a fish, but I'm not sure.
Does anyone recognize it? Any insight is appreciated.
http://sphotos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/541382_607769815916231_1626278824_n.jpg
They are the pharyngeal teeth and pharyngeal arch of a fish - so not true teeth, and from a toothless fish, used for grinding
They are the pharyngeal teeth and pharyngeal arch of a fish - so not true teeth, and from a toothless fish, used for grinding
They are aproximatelly 7.0 by 5.0 cms
Ian Duggan, you seem to be right! I found some images of pharyngeal teeth of Grass Carp and they look remarkably limilar.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Grass+Carp+pharyngeal+teeth&hl=pt-BR&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=uNstUdKHDZSG9gS7iYHwDw&ved=0CDIQsAQ&biw=1026&bih=624
I think it's part of a aracada because teeth do seem, however without the measurements it is difficult to know when taking a photo, it's always good to put a reference on the side as a ruler or coin.
Yes Fabio, it was the pharyngeal teeth of grass carp that I was reminded of when I saw your picture. Was it a marine beach it was it collected from though? Or a lake?
Zsolt: look at the image of pharyngeal teeth of grass carp that Fabio posted, which look like his original picture. Your ones look like they might be from a much smaller fish. What species?
Yes, indeed, it is a pharyngeal bone (with teeth) of a "bony fish". Very good in genus/species indentifications.
It is for sure pharyngeal teeth from some kind of "herbivorous" fish. It is in shape almost identical of what you can see in completly herbivorous freshwater Ctenopharyngodon idella. However I have no knowledge of marine fish, so wont help you with closer identification.
Ian and others, thanks for all answers.
Unfortunately, the photo was not taken by me. I guess you all know the drill: someone finds something weird, take a photo and mail to you.
As far as I'm concerned, it was found at a beach, south of Brazil, but that doesnt mean that it was living at the sea. Is it a comercial species? Someone could have ate it and just tossed the rest at the beach...
Ian Duggan: "Your ones look like they might be from a much smaller fish. What species?"
It was a Rutilus rutilus.
There were several specimens caught with net, in a lake from the eastern part of the Danube Delta, and I selected one of the biggest specimen... but even in that case, pharyngeal teeth were quite small (at least for the magnifying capacity of the photo-camera I used).
Attached to the present message is a picture (from another angle) of the same teeth.
Ian, in the image attached to the present message is the fish from which I took out those teeth.
I put it on a scale, so it can be seen that it had 21.5 cm (may be a little bit more...)
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