Scale-eating fish adopt clever parasitic methods to survive

Think of them as extra-large parasites. A small group of fishes—possibly the world’s cleverest carnivorous grazers—feeds on the scales of other fish in the tropics. The different species’ approach differs: some ram their blunt noses into the sides of other fish to prey upon sloughed-off scales, while others open their jaws to gargantuan widths to pry scales off with their teeth.