Dracula fish: New fish found with fangs
A vampire fish with fang-like Dracula teeth has officially been declared a new species after being discovered in Burma.The tiny Danionella dracula measures just 18mm long and at first glance may not look anything special, but experts say it is an 'extraordinary' discovery.
It is the only known species of over 3,700 types of carp-like fish, to have evolved with teeth, all others are thought to have lost their teeth around 50 million years ago.
The fanged fish - dubbed the "Dracula" fish - use the teeth to jostle each other but don't ever bite ... neither do they wear a cloak or sleep in coffins.
Dr Ralf Britz, of the Natural History Museum, said: "This fish is one of the most extraordinary vertebrates discovered in the last few decades."The teeth that Danionella dracula has are very surprising because none of the other 3,700 species in the Cypriniform group have any teeth in their jaws.
"In fact, they lost their jaw teeth about 50 million years ago in the Upper Eocene Period. Danionella dracula, however, evolved its own dracula-like teeth structures by growing them from the jaw bones rather than re-evolving jaw teeth."
LINKS
Natural History Museum
