The jaw adductor muscle complex in teleostean fishes: evolution, homologies and revised nomenclature (osteichthyes: actinopterygii).

ABSTRACT: The infraclass Teleostei is a highly diversified group of bony fishes that encompasses 96% of all species of living fishes and almost half of extant vertebrates. Evolution of various morphological complexes in teleosts, particularly those involving soft anatomy, remains poorly understood. Notable among these problematic complexes is the adductor mandibulae, the muscle that provides the primary force for jaw adduction and mouth closure and whose architecture varies from a simple arrangement of two segments to an intricate complex of up to ten discrete subdivisions. The present study analyzed multiple morphological attributes of the adductor mandibulae in representatives of 53 of the 55 extant teleostean orders, as well as significant information from the literature in order to elucidate the

SUBMITTER: Datovo A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3614958 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature