TEETH OF THE WOLF-PISH. 245 



of the wolf-fisli (Anarrhicas lupus, Fig. 61) has been a sub- 

 ject of interest to many anatomists. Most of the teeth 

 are powerful crushers; some present the laniary type, 

 with the apices more or less recurved and blunted by use, 

 and consist of strong cones, spread abroad, like grappling- 

 hooks, at the anterior part of the mouth, ^, ^. 



The premaxillary teeth, 22, ^, are all conical, and ar- 

 ranged in two rows ; there are two, three, or four in the 

 exterior row, at the mesial half of the bone, which are the 

 largest ; and from six to eight smaller teeth are irregu- 

 larly arranged behind. There are three large, strong, 

 diverging laniaries at the anterior end of each premandi- 

 bular bone, and immediately behind these ^n irregular 

 number of shorter and smaller conical teeth, which gra- 

 dually exchange this form for that of large obtuse tuber- 

 cles, m,m; these extend backwards, in a double alternate 

 series, along a great part of the alveolar bordfer of the 

 bone, and are terminated by two or three smaller teeth 

 in a single row, the last of which again presents the coni- 

 cal form. Each palatine bone, 20, supports a double row 

 of teeth, the outer ones being conical and straight, and 

 from four to six in number; the inner ones two, three, or 

 four in number, and tuberculate. The lower surface of 

 the vomer, 13, is covered by a double irregularly alter- 

 nate series of the same kind of large tuberculate crushing 

 teeth as those at the middle of the premandibular bone. 

 Thus the inside of the mouth appears to be paved with 

 teeth, by means of which the wolf-fish can break in pieces 

 the shells of whelks and lobsters, and effectually disen- 

 gage the nutritious animal parts from them. All the 

 teeth are anchylosed to more or less developed alveolar 

 eminences of bones. From the enormous power of the 

 muscles of the jaws, and the strength of the shells which 



21^ 



