Bony Tongues and Relatives: Osteoglossiformes

Bony tongues and their relatives eat plankton, that is, microscopic plants and animals drifting in the water; insect adults and larvae (LAR-vee), or young insects in the early stage of growth before becoming adults; crustaceans (krus-TAY-shuns), or shelled animals with jointed legs, such as shrimp; earthworms; snails; and other fish. Some even eat frogs and mice. Some bony tongues feed at the water surface, at middle depths, and others are bottom feeders. The bony tongues with long snouts find their prey in holes and crevices (KREH-vuh-suhz).