Morphological Variability and Function of Labial Cartilages in Sharks (Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchii).

ABSTRACT: (1) Background: Labial cartilages (LCs), as their name suggests, lie in the folds of the connective tissue, the lips, framing the gape of elasmobranch chondrichthyans. As such, these cartilages lie laterally to the jaws and marginal teeth. They are considered to influence the ability of creating suction during the feeding process. As past studies have shown, LCs in sharks are as diverse as their varied feeding techniques and differ between species in number, size, shape, and position. This allows establishing parameters for inferring the feeding and hunting behaviors in these ecologically important fishes. (2) Methods: We present a study of LCs based on the CT scans of more than 100 extant shark species and, therefore, represent at least one member of every living family within the Euselac

SUBMITTER: Klimpfinger C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10741050 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature