SkaTES, RAYS and FISH

 

The Bone fish
  Paralbula casei (Estes)
Occurrence - Uncommon

Paralbula casei is a member of the bonefish family and like the modern bonefish has specialized granular teeth. The bonefish uses these modified teeth to grind its hard shelled prey such as mollusk and crustaceans. The teeth of Paralbula casei are small, averaging only a few millimeters in diameter and are uncommon even when using a fine meshed screen. Isolated teeth are dome like, with an enamel surface that shows faint radiating lines emanating from the center.  

The dome like teeth of Paralbula casei are small averaging
only a couple of mm in diameter.
Monmouth County, NJ
 

Left - The top of these teeth have an enamel coating with faint
radiating lines emanating from the center.
The bottom, pictured on the right, is hollowed out.

Bonefish mouth plate
 

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