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Description
The beakfish are a very diverse group of eupinna distributed across the shelf seas worldwide. They are small to middle-sized (max. 60 cm long) animals with very diverse feeding habits they adapted their beaks to. The beaks are the enlarged frontmost median teeth of the vertical jaws; the horizontal jaws are reduced to muscle attachments, acoustic sensors and, in some species, water pumping organs. Beakfish are mostly diurnal and have good color and shape perception. Many species from small schools, but especially the bigger and predatory species are solitary. Like the other teeth the beaks are shed regularly; the new beak grows under the old one, finally pushing it outside. A few species, like the erabanes, have bimodal beaks that are adaptions to sporadic food sources, like era worm mass spawnings. In this case, the trigger to shed the beak to the elongated form is era worm poison in the water the erabanes are immune to. Outside of era worm season, they spend their lives as generalistic omnivores.

Common shelfhog: A member of a mostly herbivorous group that feeds on lithophytes; some species specialize on small hard-shelled animals. An unique feature of this group are the constantly growing beak teeth that are not shed.
Northern pitbullfish: The pitbullfish are a group of small ambush predators. Species with larger beaks use pure force to subdue their prey, while species with smaller, slender beaks utilize venom.
Rockpoker: These animals have an elongated head with foreset jaws that enable them to stick their snouts into narrow crevices while still being able to open their mouths fully; sometimes the beak is reduced and the horizontal jaws are used to suck small prey into the tube-like mouth. The species that feed on endobenthos usually possess electroreceptors to find their prey.
Pronged herring: These filter-feeders use exclusively their tongue for feeding, while the teeth serve as protection for the filter apparatus. As an unique trait, the lateral teeth of the lower jaw are enlarged as well. Similar to selodkas, the pronged herrings form large swarms.

Description
The beakfish are a very diverse group of eupinna distributed across the shelf seas worldwide. They are small to middle-sized (max. 60 cm long) animals with very diverse feeding habits they adapted their beaks to. The beaks are the enlarged frontmost median teeth of the vertical jaws; the horizontal jaws are reduced to muscle attachments, acoustic sensors and, in some species, water pumping organs. Beakfish are mostly diurnal and have good color and shape perception. Many species from small schools, but especially the bigger and predatory species are solitary. Like the other teeth the beaks are shed regularly; the new beak grows under the old one, finally pushing it outside. A few species, like the erabanes, have bimodal beaks that are adaptions to sporadic food sources, like era worm mass spawnings. In this case, the trigger to shed the beak to the elongated form is era worm poison in the water the erabanes are immune to. Outside of era worm season, they spend their lives as generalistic omnivores.

Common shelfhog: A member of a mostly herbivorous group that feeds on lithophytes; some species specialize on small hard-shelled animals. An unique feature of this group are the constantly growing beak teeth that are not shed.
Northern pitbullfish: The pitbullfish are a group of small ambush predators. Species with larger beaks use pure force to subdue their prey, while species with smaller, slender beaks utilize venom.
Rockpoker: These animals have an elongated head with foreset jaws that enable them to stick their snouts into narrow crevices while still being able to open their mouths fully; sometimes the beak is reduced and the horizontal jaws are used to suck small prey into the tube-like mouth. The species that feed on endobenthos usually possess electroreceptors to find their prey.
Pronged herring: These filter-feeders use exclusively their tongue for feeding, while the teeth serve as protection for the filter apparatus. As an unique trait, the lateral teeth of the lower jaw are enlarged as well. Similar to selodkas, the pronged herrings form large swarms.