For years teeth of tetraodontoid fishes generally have been considered coalescent even though "coalescence," which also is found in fishes of other families, has never been well defined. This paper deals with some aspects of coalescence of the teeth in tetraodontoids and attempts to define this condition. The sites of osteodentinogenesis and the mechanisms by which hard tissues are formed, reabsorbed, and abraded during feeding were analyzed from semiserial decalcified sections and from ground sections, as well as from autoradiographs of the premaxilla and dentary bones of Sphoeroides greeleyi. The observations reported here, taken together with other data we have obtained on members of the Tetraodontoidei, permit clear definitions of "tooth" and "supporting bone," and consequently the structural meaning of coalescence. From these data we hypothesize how coalesced masticatory structures may have evolved in this group.
Copyright © 1982 Wiley-Liss, Inc.