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Adapted for sawing and tearing.

Example: Great white shark
Great white shark teeth are designed for catching and feeding on marine animals. They are specialized for gripping and tearing apart prey items such as fish, seals, sea lions, dolphins, and even other sharks. Great whites typically bite their prey, and then shake their heads from side to side to tear off pieces of flesh.

The edges of great white shark teeth are serrated, which helps them grip and tear through the flesh of their prey more efficiently. The serrations enable the shark to slice through the prey's skin and flesh, making it easier for the shark to consume its meal.

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Adapted for filtering.

Example: Whale shark
Instead of 'normal' teeth found in most sharks, they have rows of small, backward-pointing teeth called "dermal denticles" that line their gill plates and the back of their throats.

These dermal denticles are not used for chewing or tearing prey like the teeth of other sharks. Instead, they serve to filter the water as the whale shark feeds. Whale sharks are filter feeders, meaning they primarily eat tiny organisms such as plankton, small fish, and shrimp-like creatures called krill.

When the whale shark opens its enormous mouth, water rushes in, and the dermal denticles act as a filter, trapping the food particles while allowing the water to pass out through their gills.

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Limited by mouth size (horizontal maxillary oral gape)

Capture prey head-first vertically and turn them horizontally

Attributed to avoidance of abrasion, a reduction in escape rates of prey, and handling time

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Adapted to cut through flesh.

Example: Piranha
Piranha teeth are typically triangular and razor-sharp, resembling serrated blades. They have a pronounced curve and are designed for puncturing and tearing flesh. The teeth are tightly packed in their jaws, forming a powerful bite.

Their sharp teeth are adapted for feeding on other fish, insects, crustaceans, and even small mammals or birds. They typically bite off chunks of flesh from their prey, leaving behind a jagged wound.

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Adapted to scrape material off rocks.

Example: Parrot fish
The teeth of parrotfish are fused together to form a beak-like structure known as a "parrot-like beak." This beak is located at the front of their mouth and is used to scrape and bite into corals and other hard structures.

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Adapted to grind food.

Example: Sheepshead fish
The Sheepshead fish has a unique set of teeth that closely resemble molars, which are used for crushing and grinding prey. These teeth are located in the front of the mouth and are characterized by their flat, broad shape, similar to human molars. The teeth are arranged in rows, and their strong jaws allow them to crush the shells of crustaceans, mollusks, and other hard-bodied prey.

This adaptation enables Sheepshead fish to feed on a variety of organisms with hard outer coverings, such as crabs, oysters, clams, and barnacles. They use their specialized teeth to break through the shells and extract the soft flesh inside.

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1. Concealment: Conceal themselves by either hiding in burrows or camouflage. Hides and strikes when prey is near.
E.g. Mantis shrimps hide in burrows to conceal themselves until a prey is near.

2. Aggressive mimicry: Mimics appearance of a third party.
E.g. Mimics prey or non-threat to prey like rotting fish. Then attacks prey that approach it.

3. Traps: Build traps to capture prey.
E.g. Intertidal spiders spin waterproof webs to capture prey.

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Adapted to scrape material off rocks.

Example: Surgeon fish
They have comb-like teeth that aid in scraping algae or plant material off rocks or coral surfaces. These teeth are adapted to perform a rasping action, allowing the fish to feed on algae or plants by removing them from hard surfaces.

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Adapted for stabbing.

Example: Barracudas
Barracudas have long, sharp, and pointed teeth that are designed to pierce and impale their prey quickly. These teeth enable barracudas to immobilize and secure their prey, especially smaller fish, with precision and minimal effort.

After capturing the prey, the teeth interlock, preventing the prey from escaping, even when it struggles.

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1. Pointed
2. Comb-like
3. Heavy and flat, molar like
4. Fused like a beak
5. Incisors like
6. Broom-like
7. Serrated

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1. Jaws

Jaw and muscle structure that create a partial vacuum (terminal protrusible mouth)

Suck prey into the mouth

2. Teeth

Teeth that are sharp and curve backwards to prevent prey from backing out from the mouth

A second set of teeth called pharyngeal jaw to grab the prey and
bring it to the throat

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1. Eyes

Complex and rapid eye motor coordination that facilitates finding and capturing prey

Some have colour vision and UV vision

2. Olfactory bulbs

Detect soluble chemical substances released by prey

3. Ears:

Bony fishes detect vibrations of prey through their "earstones" called otoliths

Dolphins use echolocation to detect prey

4. Lateral line

System of sensory organs used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water

5. Ampullae of Lorenzini

Allows sharks to detect the electrical fields created by prey animals via electroreception

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Adapted to help organisms to capture plankton.

Example: Plantivorous damsel fish
The tiny size of their mouths allows damselfish to efficiently feed on small organisms such as plankton, algae, and tiny invertebrates. By having a small mouth, they can target and consume their prey more effectively, increasing their chances of obtaining enough food for energy and growth.

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Adapted to allow organisms to grind and crush their food.

Example: Parrot fish
They have beak-like mouths with strong, sharp teeth arranged in a way that allows them to crush and grind hard coral skeletons or rocks. This adaptation enables them to feed on the algae and other organisms that grow on these surfaces.

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Adapted to allow organisms to swallow large prey, giving them an advantage in capturing and consuming prey.

Example: Largemouth bass
It is known for its distinctive large mouth, which extends beyond the back of its eye when the jaw is fully open.

The largemouth bass uses its large mouth to engulf and capture prey efficiently. It primarily feeds on smaller fish, insects, crustaceans, and occasionally amphibians or small mammals. The wide gape of its mouth allows it to ambush prey or engage in short bursts of high-speed pursuit to capture its meals.

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Adapted for creating a rapid burst of suction to capture prey.

Example: Pipefish
The suction tube mouth of pipefish allows them to target and capture small prey more effectively. They often inhabit habitats with dense vegetation or rocky crevices where their prey may be hidden. The long, slender snout acts as a probe, allowing them to reach into narrow gaps and crevices to extract prey.

They then use their elongated snout to create a suction force, similar to a straw, to draw in tiny crustaceans, zooplankton, or small invertebrates that make up their diet.

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Adapted to allow organisms to poke into crevices, as a feeding mechanism and for sensory detection.

Example: Archerfish
Their snouts resemble tweezers. These snouts are used for precise aiming and shooting water at insects above the water's surface. By creating a water jet, the fish can knock down insects and other small prey items into the water, making them easier to capture and consume.

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1. Search

Sit-and-wait: Prey are dense and mobile; predator expends less energy/ has low energy requirement

Active and wide foraging: Prey are sedentary or sparsely distributed; predator expends more energy/ has more energy requirement

2. Assess

Predator must assess whether the prey is worth pursuing or to keep searching

Prey size too small- nutrition is not worth the energy expended to pursuit

Prey size too big- too difficult to consume and energetically costly to capture

3. Pursue

Pursuit predation: Direct chase of prey

Ambush predation: Waits and suddenly strikes on nearby prey

Ballistic interception: Predator waits for prey and bursts to intercept prey's motion from a farther distance compared to ambush predation

4. Handle

Any post capture manipulation required to subdue prey and make it ingestible and digestible e.g. removing poisonous spines

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Adapted for scavenging or parasitic behaviour.

Example: Hagfish
They have a circular fleshy opening known as an oral disc. They have a unique feeding mechanism where they use their muscular mouth to rasp and tear into the flesh of their prey.

The rows of sharp, inward-facing teeth help them to grip onto the prey and tear it apart.

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1. Jawless
2. Tweezer-like snout
3. Suction tube
4. Large mouth
5. Beak like teeth
6. Tiny and turned up

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The mouth is located at the anterior end of the fish.
The size, shape, placement, and type of teeth provides us with critical information about the feeding habits of the fish.

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Swordfish are infamous apex predators which use their high speed to impale and capture prey. 

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Adapted to be streamlined, speedy predators, pursuit predators are able to chase down prey for an extended period of time with deadly accuracy and determination.

High aspect ratio tails: Round bodies with higher aspect ratio tails allow predators to accelerate and maintain the speed for a longer duration. Certain tails also aid the predators in quickly maneuvering its direction.

Streamlined body: Normally, pursuit predators are observed to have a slim body with little drag when swimming. This allows pursuit predators to maintain a high speed when chasing down prey while also granting it the ability to react and make quick adjustments of direction when chasing down prey.

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Zebra mantis shrimp capturing a clueless fish.

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Ambush predators prefer a slower pace, with calculated strikes and lightning-fast attacks. These predators wait for the perfect opportunity to quickly capture and secure their prey.

Highly adapted senses: These organs help the predators to accurately determine both the location, distance and ultimately the worthiness of the prey. These can be in the form of either highly adapted eyes, or vibration sensitive organs.

Huge bursts of speed: Ambush predators trade the sustained chasing capabilities like the ones of pursuit predators for the ability to maintain an even faster speed for a significantly shorter duration. This is accomplished by their pike-like body shape, large caudal fin with low aspect ratio, and broad, symmetrical median fins.

Fast capture: The core tenet of an ambush predator is to strike fast at their prey and capture them in as little time as possible to conserve energy. This makes up for their lack of stamina and inability to change direction reliably once attack is in process. This adaptation could be in the form of huge snapping jaws, sudden suction created by the mouth of the predators or even organs designed to incapacitate prey quickly like venom or sticky appendages.

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The capture and killing of a live organism.