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How do long-snouted spikefishes find food that other fishes cannot reach?
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tetraodontiform
Scrawled filefish (Aluterus scriptus)
Long-snouted spikefishes (family Triacanthodidae) are able to access food sources that are unavailable to less-specialized fishes by using their elongated snouts to probe into holes in the bottom or into recesses in outcroppings. While many other tetraodontiforms rely on massive, crushing jaws and teeth to feed on hard-shelled invertebrates, these specialized spikefishes have reduced or rudimentary teeth, allowing them to occupy a distinct ecological niche by foraging in these confined spaces.1