If you look at a sheepshead fish closely, you may believe he’s found a sailor’s lost teeth on the ocean floor.
But don’t let the dazzling whites fool you: they’re entirely natural.
Native to the Gulf and Atlantic coasts of the United States, the sheepshead is a special fish who’s taken the internet by storm after the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources recently posted a photo of one individual’s toothy grin.
Some felt he was frightening immediately once, while others marveled at how dazzling and human-like the fish’s teeth were.
Regardless of what the internet says, one thing is certain: these guys have some rather spectacular chompers.
Equipped with super-strong jaws, sheepsheads are able to easily crush through hard-shelled sea life like oysters, crabs, and barnacles, which make up much of their adult diet. Multiple rows of molars behind their front teeth grind up the food into tiny particles as they chew.
Their jaws are so powerful, in fact, that they have even been known to snap metal fishhooks in half.
They’re a frequent target for fisherman due to their size, weighing in at roughly 20 pounds as adults, and have even been threatened in the past due to overfishing. Fortunately, the sheepshead fish population as a whole is doing considerably better these days, and divers frequently encounter them along mangrove roots, piers, and jetties.
And if their picture-perfect smiles are any indicator, these fish are more like us than we know — and that’s all the better reason to keep them safe.
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