This March 2019 microscope photo provided by Audrey Velasco-Hogan shows a dragonfish and its teeth in the Deheyn Lab of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif. The deep-sea creature’s teeth are transparent underwater – virtually invisible to prey. According to research released on Wednesday, June 5, 2019, they are made of the same materials as human teeth, but the microscopic structure is different. And as a result, light doesn t reflect off the surface. (Audrey Velasco-Hogan via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) – A deep-sea fish can hide its enormous, jutting teeth from prey because its chompers are virtually invisible – until it’s too late.
What’s the dragonfish’s secret? The teeth are transparent, and now scientists have discovered how the fish accomplished that trick.
Findings were published Wednesday in the journal Matter.
The dragonfish is a small predator with jagged, needle-like teeth protruding from a jaw that can extend to bite into prey up to half its body size.
“They look like monsters,” said Marc Meyers of the University of California, San Diego. “But they’re mini monsters” – about as long as a pencil.