Abstract
Lampreys and hagfishes form a monophyletic group of jawless vertebrates which lack true teeth or other mineralized tissues, but they possess keratinised tooth-like structures. Suggestions that the ‘teeth’ of hagfishes contain proteins associated with enamel, and hence may be related to true teeth, have been disproved. Hagfishes have paired, serrated tooth plates which are everted by an array of cartilages and used to grasp morsels of flesh from their prey. Some lampreys are non-parasitic. Parasitic lampreys possess teeth on the lining of the funnel-shaped suctorial hood, which are used to maintain attachment to prey. Further teeth mounted at the tip of an oscillating ‘piston’ are used to scrap prey, during feeding on blood or flesh. The utility of lamprey teeth in species identification is described.
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