A recent paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Matter brought to light the structure of the teeth of dragonfish. The article discussed how these teeth are structured and how this helps the dragonfish survive in their environment. The incredible structure of these teeth is very interesting and the reason for this structure demonstrates the design of these strange fish. This article will discuss dragonfish and their remarkable teeth and attempt to make sense of them in light of origins
Dragonfish are denizens of the deep sea. They are bioluminescent fish that resemble an eel in body style. It is not very long, measuring a half a foot or less, but is a fearsome predator. Like most other deep-sea creatures, it is dark-colored, helping it remain camouflaged in the pitch darkness of the depths. It’s most prominent feature, besides its bioluminescent lures, is its large, protruding teeth. The teeth are huge compared to the body size and, remarkably, are transparent. It is the transparency of these teeth that has caught the attention of the researchers.
The recent study looked at the structure of dragonfish teeth because they made no sense. In a dark world, where the only light comes from photosynthetic organisms, camouflage is very important. However, teeth that are transparent should show up against the background when bioluminescent light strikes them. Dragonfish teeth are invisible against the background. The researchers studied these teeth and discovered that they had a specialized structure.
The structure of the dragonfish teeth was somewhat similar to most other vertebrate teeth. Dentin and enamel make up the majority of the structure of the teeth. However, the way these compounds are arranged within the teeth is incredibly specific. because of the arrangement within the teeth, not only are the teeth essentially transparent, they are also much less noticeable than teeth are found in most vertebrates. The structure of the teeth is such that they do not reflect light the normal way most other teeth would. Instead, they tend to reflect much less light, and, the light that is reflected, is scattered much more than normally reflected light. This reduces the visibility of the teeth. Given that the dragonfish live in a habitat that is completely dark and any light could expose their presence to their prey, having invisible teeth is a huge advantage.
The evolutionists make no attempt in this paper to explain the evolutionary origins of these dragonfish teeth and with good reason. Explaining why no other vertebrate, even those that hunt at night, would be difficult within their paradigm. However, the presence of these incredibly designed teeth raise issues for creationists as well. After all, if there was no death before sin, why would dragonfish have teeth that are clearly designed to hunt? In order to answer this question, we need to examine the purpose of these structures.
First of all, we do not know what dragonfish ate in the prefall world. However, based on their diet in the modern world, their pre-fall diet would have included crustaceans, which are likely not alive under the Biblical definition. Further, there is no problem whatsoever with God, who knows everything, preparing creatures in advance to face the post-fall world. However, this explanation need not apply to the dragonfish. If it were to feed on crustaceans in the prefall world, it would not violate the principle of no death before sin because, under a Biblical definition of life, crustaceans are not alive. Thus we could say that dragonfish are simply using their incredible design in a broader sense than they did in the prefall world.
Thus dragonfish can be viewed as an exquisitely designed organism that has expanded its diet in the post-fall world. It is definitely well designed to be an apex predator in the depths of the ocean and this design works incredibly well. The invisible teeth, the camouflage, and the bioluminescence combine together to create a design that defies evolutionary explanation. There is no possible ancestor for these specialized fish, nor do the evolutionists have an explanation for the invisible teeth. Yet they will continue to spew the mantra that evolution can explain everything. Creation science provides a far better explanation for the origin of dragonfish. They were designed to do exactly what they do, albeit with a smaller diet.
In His Image 