Meeting Abstract
Oral teeth are important structures for the acquisition of prey. Tooth morphology has been used to provide insights into the dietary habits and even the ontogenetic shifts in diet for many predatory species. In this study we analyzed tooth morphology and the ontogeny of tooth growth in the oral jaws of the California moray eel (Gymnothorax mordax), which can attain lengths of up to 1.5 m total length (TL). We sampled individuals ranging from 455-850 mm TL, 54-106 mm head length (HL). To quantify tooth morphology, the length and width of each tooth was measured for the following five regions: inner maxillary, outer maxillary, ethnovomerine, vomerine and dentary. Within the oral jaws the anterior most teeth were found to be significantly larger in length. Of these five regions, the vomerine teeth, while fewest in number, were the longest. To detect changes in scaling patterns throughout growth, teeth located in the anterior portion of each region were corrected for size using the skeletal feature along which they were located. We then took the ratio of these relationships and regressed them against HL. We found that both length and width of the anterior teeth in all regions scaled isometrically with HL indicating that tooth shape and relative size is maintained throughout ontogeny. These isometric patterns in tooth shape suggest that G. mordax does not undergo an ontogenetic shift in diet. Stomach contents of G. mordax individuals collected (n=49) from Santa Catalina Island, California, correspond with these scaling patterns and further support a generalist diet throughout ontogeny.
