bristlemouth

[ bris-uhl-mouth ]

noun

, plural (especially collectively) bris·tle·mouth, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) bris·tle·mouths [bris, -, uh, l-mou, th, z, -mouths].

1. any of several small, deep-sea fishes of the family Gonostomatidae, having numerous sharp, slender teeth covering the jaws.

Word History and Origins

Origin of bristlemouth¹

bristle + mouth

Example Sentences

The common bristlemouth is the most abundant vertebrate on the planet.

From New York Times

A recent expedition has revealed the some of the gleaming, glowing and fearsome-looking creatures that inhabit the zone, including a tiny fish called a bristlemouth — thought to be the most abundant vertebrate on Earth.

From Nature

He also documented the bristlemouth, a finger-sized, needle-fanged, glow-in-the-dark hermaphrodite of a fish that exists in at least the trillions and is the most numerous vertebrate on Earth.

From New York Times

If I asked you what the most common vertebrate on Earth was, how many guesses would it take for you to think of the bristlemouth?

From MSNBC

The tiny fish known as the bristlemouth is part of a detective story that bears on everything from feeding the planet and monitoring ocean health to learning how to better predict climate change.

From New York Times