North Carolina Fish With Human-Like Teeth Explained

May 2024 · 1 minute read

According to the Florida Museum, sheepshead fish eat both plants and animals, including oysters, crabs, clams, crustaceans, and small fish. Per the museum, they only eat "occasional plant material." Who knew we humans had so much in common with a fish? 

It's because of their diet that sheepshead need their unique teeth, which are used to crush the shells of their prey and scrape barnacles off of pilings and rocks. Scientific American reported that an adult sheepshead has incisors in the front of its jaw, three rows of molars in the upper-rear jaw, and two more rows of molars in the lower-rear jaw — as well as some heavy grinders in the latter.

Per Scientific American, it's this variety of teeth in sheepshead fish that enable the striped fish to really get their seafood buffet on. After all, they don't have the luxury of crab cracking tools or oyster shucking knives. You could even say ... sheepshead are crushing it. 

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