Talk:Rhynchactis
Add topic | A fact from Rhynchactis appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 2 April 2010. The text of the entry was as follows:
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Feeding theory
[edit]Not really a wikipedia discussion, but is there perhaps any indication that it feeds via a chemical attractant instead of a visual one? Is there any evidence of the structures in the mouth secreting or containing any chemicals? Maybe they just sit there and "smell" pretty, and wait for the meal to wander right into their mouths.
The article also seems to suggest that the larger the animal, the more likely it is to have lesser developed teeth. Perhaps it targets primarily soft-bodied jellies and the like. Teeth, especially long, curved ones are needed for grasping prey larger than the mouth. If the prey-item were sufficiently small for the predator, they could be swallowed whole, without needing teeth at all (See catfish)
Also, the mating-parasitism of males in these types of fish is common because of the sparcity of potential mates in the very deep habitat of these fish; however, the males of these species do have much more developed olfactory glands, perhaps allowing them to sense potential mates from much further away.
Another question is, how were the studied specimens caught? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.153.29.23 (talk) 05:43, 2 April 2010 (UTC)