That's a new one for me!

  My learning experiences never end, here on the Bayou.  There always seems to be a new discovery lurking in the shadows each and every day.  This is good.  The brain needs a new challenge now and again so it might as well be something to do with my own place.  My finds are researched as far as I can go and then compared with what is on hand.

  This morning, Mark and I were on the pier when I found a small tidbit of an oddity underfoot.  My first instinct was to flip the unusual item back into the water since it was quite obvious that was where it originated but something told me to pick it up.  I did and then the questions started.  What was this thing?  It was like nothing I had ever seen before...or was it?  As I was holding the piece, several small "nuggets" fell off and rolled between the boards and into the water.  Oops!  I had intended on getting a photo of it intact.  So much for that idea.  After a bit of discussion, Mark and I had a tentative idea of what the thing was but I needed more information.  That information proved to be difficult to come by, however.  It was definitely some piece of bone from a fish...we knew that much!

  The small piece of bone had dozens of tiny holes in it and in each hole was a "peg".  It was a few of those "pegs" that rolled out as I handled the piece.  Our idea of this being "teeth" from a catfish seems to be correct although I could not find any definitive photos of them.  The hardhead catfish have "plates" with small rounded teeth.  These plates are on the roof of their mouth.  The fish do not have sharp teeth like other fish which is why I have never thought about it.  For some reason, I assumed that they had no teeth whatsoever and perhaps just either swallowed their food whole or maybe mashed it.  The mashing is not too far off from reality as these teeth are small and rounded. We figured that the bone came from one of the catfish that we used as crab bait.  The crabs eat all of the flesh and leave behind the bones.  Emptying the bait box, we obviously dropped the small shard onto the pier and thus began our mystery!  So...now we know or, at least, maybe we do.  I will assume this is correct until I find evidence that says otherwise.  Oh, the things I find!