Anatomy of the feeding apparatus of the lemon shark, Negaprion brevirostris

Abstract

The anatomy of the feeding apparatus of the lemon shark, Negaprion brevirostris, is investigated by gross dissection, computer axial tomography, and histological staining. The muscles and ligaments of the head associated with feeding are described. The upper and lower jaws are suspended by the hyoid arch, which in turn is braced against the chondrocranium by a complex series of ligaments. In addition, various muscles and the integument contribute to the suspension and stability of the jaws. The dual jaw joint is comprised of lateral and medial quadratomandibular joints that resist lateral movement of the upper and lower jaws on one another. This is important during feeding involving vigorous head shaking. An elastic ethmoplatine ligament that unites the anterior portion of the upper jaw to the neurocranium is involved with upper jaw retraction. The quadratomandibularis muscle is divided into four divisions with a bipinnate fiber arrangement of the two large superficial divisions. This arrangement would permit a relatively greater force per unit volume and reduce muscle bulging of the jaw adductor muscle in the spatially confined cheek region. Regions of relatively diffuse integumental ligaments overlying the adductor mandibulae complex and the levator palatoquadrati muscle, interspersed with localized regions of longer tendonlike attachments between the skin and the underlying muscle, permit greater musculoskeletal movement relative to the skin. The nomenclature of the hypobranchial muscles is discussed. In this shark they are comprised of the unsegmented coracomandibularis and coracohyoideus, and the segmented coracoarcualis.