Darien Satterfield: What you can do with an extra jaw

What you can do with an extra jaw

After stalking a cuttlefish, a moray eel finally pounces. As the eel snags the mollusk in its teeth, its prey struggles to escape. But before it can wiggle away, a second set of teeth lunge from the eel's throat. This adaptation is called a pharyngeal jaw, and is one of the most common adaptations under the sea. Darien Satterfield shares how this incredible skeletal mechanism works. [Directed by Zack Williams, narrated by Addison Anderson, music by Maxwell Sorensen].

Millions of years ago, fish developed a second set of jaws, called pharyngeal jaws, which let them capture and process prey at once. This hidden adaptation allows a moray eel to grab a cuttlefish with its oral teeth, then trap it with a second set lunging from its throat. These specialized jaws, found in over 30,000 fish species, enable feats from crushing shells to grinding seaweed or even eating the guts of sea cucumbers. The remarkable diversity of fish jaws underpins their success in virtually every aquatic environment.