'Vampires' in Myanmar

Scientists have discovered a strange fish, with sharp teeth like legendary vampires.

Vampire fish teeth are protruding parts of bones.Photo: topnews.in.

With a length of about 17 cm, the exotic fish lives in a single stream in Myanmar. Experts of the British Museum of Natural History give them the nickname "vampire fish", and their scientific name is Danionella dracula. But the males use their teeth to fight, not to suck blood like vampires.

"When we look at vampire fish in the tank, we see that they use their teeth to fight each other. They extend their lower jaws to the fullest extent and then gorge each other, but the blows leave no wounds" , Ralf Britz, a city member of the expert group of the British Museum of Natural History, said.

They are about 17 cm long.Photo: BBC.

Danionella dracula used to come to England on a fish tanker, but then scientists thought they were a different species.

"After about a year of living in a captive environment they died one after another. I kept their corpses. Once I observed them under a microscope and saw the teeth. I dared not believe that it was teeth. I peeled Separating the muscles and noticing that the teeth are an extension of the bones, they are not true teeth , " Britz said.

In fact, the jaw bone of Danionella dracula has sharp protrusions. Due to the line up, they are quite like teeth. Male fish have two long protruding points forming fake fangs. Vampire fish enter the estrus stage when their bodies are not fully developed. The research team believes that this trait helps fish to increase their success rate in reproductive behavior.