Morphological and functional bases of durophagy in the queen triggerfish, Balistes vetula (Pisces, tetraodontiformes)

Tetraodontiform fishes are characterized by jaws specialized for powerful biting and a diet dominated by hard‐shelled prey. Strong biting by the oral jaws is an unusual feature among teleosts. We present a functional morphological analysis of the feeding mechanism of a representative tetraodontiform, Balistes vetula . As is typical for the order, long, sharp, strong teeth are mounted on the short, robust jaw bones of B. vetula . The neurocranium and suspensorium are enlarged and strengthened to serve as sites of attachment for the greatly hypertrophied adductor mandibulae muscles. Electromyographic recordings made from 11 cranial muscles during feeding revealed four distinct behaviors in the feeding repertoire of B. vetula . Suction is used effectively to capture soft prey and is associated with a motor pattern similar to that reported for many other teleosts. However, when feeding on hard prey, B. vetula directly bit the prey, exhibiting a motor pattern very different from that of suction feeding. During buccal manipulation, repeated cycles of jaw opening and closing (biting) were coupled with rapid movement of the prey in and out of the mouth. Muscle activity during buccal manipulation was similar to that seen during bite‐captures. A blowing behavior was periodically employed during prey handling, as prey were forcefully “spit out” from the mouth, either to reposition them or to separate unwanted material from flesh. The motor pattern used during blowing was distinct from similar behaviors described for other fishes, indicating that this behaviors may be unique to tetraodontiforms. Thus B. vetula combines primitive behaviors and motor patterns (suction feeding and buccal manipulation) with specialized morphology (strong teeth, robust jaws, and hypertrophied adductor muscles) and a novel behavior (blowing) to exploit armored prey such as sea urchins molluscs, and crabs. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.