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The dragon fish lives deep in the dark ocean and is a scary creature.
Their strong, transparent teeth help them survive in a hostile environment. The cause of their transparent teeth has long been a mystery. But scientists say that they have an answer.
In deep black waters, a substance covering the teeth prevents any light from reflecting out of the surface of the teeth. It helps a dragon fish to hide its big teeth from the creatures it wants to eat.
"The mouth is invisible and the prey is caught more easily, "said scientist Marc Andre Meyers of the University of California at San Diego. He led the research, which was published this month in the newspaper Matter.
Dragonfish has teeth similar to those of humans and other animals. They consist of an outer layer of E-mailand an inner layer of hard, dense bone tissue called dentin. But in dragon fish, the material has been reorganized.
In fish teeth, enamel contains extremely small crystals. And in dentin, scientists have discovered very small pieces of a protein called collagen. If these structures were larger, they would disperse the light. But because they are so small, the light passes easily. The teeth are also very thin.
Together, these differences prevent any light that may be in the deep water from reflecting on the surface of the tooth. This facilitates hunting in the waters of the dragon fish.
Meyers explained that before, scientists thought that dragonfish teeth were made of another unknown material.
"However, we discovered that they are made with the same materials as our human teeth …"
And that surprised them, he said. "The same building blocks, different scales and hierarchies. Nature is amazing in its ingenuity. "
The researchers found the fish at depths of up to 1,000 meters in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.
Dragonflies are small, long and black. They reach about 25 centimeters long. In the deep waters, dragonfly attract small fish with their big open mouths with beard-like attachments that have a light on the end.
The dragon fish is not the only creature with transparent teeth. Others, such as monkfish and ax fish, have some as well. Although they have not yet been the subject of an investigation, Meyers said, "I suspect they have a similar structure."
I am Anne Ball.
Anne Ball adapted this story for VOA Learning English, with information from Reuters and Science News. Ashley Thompson was the editor.
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Words in this story
transparent – adj. able to be seen through
reflecting – v. to move in one direction, hit a surface, then move quickly in a different and generally opposite direction – usually + of
invisible – adj. impossible to see
E-mail – not. the very hard outer layer of a tooth
hierarchy – not. a system in which people or things are placed in a series of levels with different importance or status
ingenuity – adj. very smart or smart: have or use ingenuity
attract – v. bring (someone) to choose to do or to be involved in something
beard – not. the long hair growing on the chin of some animals
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