Unlike oral jaws connected by a bone joint, these pharyngeal jaws were suspended in muscle, offering them a wide range of motion to turn, tug, and tear on food.
The pharyngeal jaws of grass carp have two bone components that move in unison to pull plant life into their stomachs, consuming over 18 kilograms of seaweed a day.
California Sheephead use pointed teeth from their oral jaws to pry urchins off rocks before crushing their spiny exteriors in strong pharyngeal jaws that have fused with the bones of their skulls.
But depending on what that prey is, a fish might want sharp pharyngeal teeth to tear through tissue, flat pharyngeal molars to grind plant matter, or a powerful pharyngeal bite to crush shelled prey.