Morphological Variation of Pharyngeal Bones and Teeth in the Subfamily Gobioninae (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) and Its Functional Adaptations

Abstract

By binocular microscope examination and hand-drawing, we observed the pharyngeal bones and teeth of 39 Gobininae species to explore their morphological variations and functional adaptation. The results showed that, in the Gobioninae, pharyngeal bones could be divided into three morphological types: wide, intermediate, and narrow; pharyngeal teeth into five morphological types: conical, molar, coarsely compressed, compressed and extremely compressed. Different types of pharyngeal bones and teeth cooperate together to deal with different types of food. Combination of the pharyngeal bones and teeth in the Gobioninae exhibit various types, and this variation occurring in trophic apparatus provides the diverse feeding organ adapting for the ecological resource utilization and the different types of dietary habits.