{{Short description|Dermal teeth found in some fish species}} {{Redirect|Odontodes|the genus of moth|Odontodes (moth)}} [[File:Guyanancistrus longispinis.png | thumb | right | alt=this image shows a suckermouth catfish ’s odontodes on its pectoral fins. displaying its teeth-like frills. | The frill-like odontodes on a suckermouth catfish’s pectoral fins]] '''Odontodes''', or dermal teeth, are hard structures found on the external surfaces of animals or near internal openings. They consist of a soft pulp cavity surrounded by dentine and covered by a mineralised substance such as enamel, a structure similar to that of teeth.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.palaeos.com/Vertebrates/Lists/Glossary/GlossaryO.html | title = Paleos Vertebrates: Glossary | access-date = 2006-05-21 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060622200726/http://palaeos.com/Vertebrates/Lists/Glossary/GlossaryO.html | archive-date = 2006-06-22 | url-status = dead }}</ref> They generally do not have the same function as teeth, and are not replaced the same way teeth are in most fish.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4067/is_200210/ai_n9111235/pg_10 | title = Evolution of development of the vertebrate dermal and oral skeletons: Unraveling concepts, regulatory theories, and homologies | work=Paleobiology | year=2002}}</ref> In some animals (notably catfish), the presence or size of odontodes can be used in determining the sex.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.plecofanatics.com/forum/index.php?page=sexing_zebra_pleco| title = Sexual Dimorphism of the "Zebra Pleco" Hypancistrus zebra| access-date = 2006-05-22| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060516193655/http://www.plecofanatics.com/forum/index.php?page=sexing_zebra_pleco| archive-date = 2006-05-16| url-status = dead}}</ref>
Odontodes typically cover the body of chondrichthyans (cartilaginous fishes), while mineralized dermal scales are characteristic of bony fishes. During the evolution to bony fishes, ancestral odontodes have been modified to become dermal scales, including elasmoid scales in teleosteans.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Dhouailly|first1=Danielle|last2=Godefroit|first2=Pascal|last3=Martin|first3=Thomas|last4=Nonchev|first4=Stefan|last5=Caraguel|first5=Flavien|last6=Oftedal|first6=Olav|date=April 2019|title=Getting to the root of scales, feather and hair: As deep as odontodes?|journal=Experimental Dermatology|language=en|volume=28|issue=4|pages=503–508|doi=10.1111/exd.13391|pmid=28603898|s2cid=38481860|issn=0906-6705|doi-access=free}}</ref>
== Etymology == The name comes from the Greek "''odous, gen. odontos''" meaning tooth.
==Images== Aquino et al. (2001) show scanning electron microscope images of odontodes on a catfish.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Aquino|first1=Adriana E.|last2=Schaefer|first2=Scott A.|last3=Miquelarena|first3=Amalia M.|date=June 2001|title=A New Species of ''Hisonotus'' (Siluriformes, Loricariidae) of the Upper Río Uruguay Basin|journal=American Museum Novitates|issue=3333|pages=1–12|doi=10.1206/0003-0082(2001)333<0001:ANSOHS>2.0.CO;2|doi-access=free|s2cid=7469285 |issn=0003-0082}}</ref>
== See also == * Dermal denticle
==References== <references />
Category:Teeth Category:Animal anatomy Category:Ichthyology Category:Veterinary dentistry
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