Revista de Oceanografia e Pesquisa Marinha
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Solving the Mystery of Endless Life between Conodonts and Lampreys, Plus a Reason for Final Extinction of the Conodonts

Michael Iannicelli

New insight about extinct conodonts and their sister group, extant/prehistoric lampreys attempts to explain enigmatic patterns of their disappearance and survival, respectively. Conodonts and lampreys are very comparable to one another because: they both resembled eels in body plan while also being jawless and armorless; their mouths were used only for a “grasping” purpose; and they attacked their prey in parasitic fashion. Their mode of attacking was by latching onto another animal with their mouth while slowly suction-feeding on their victim’s body fluids, but this advances a new revelation about them. While these particular fish slowly nourished upon their host-victims, the simple unity of multiple conodonts or lampreys and their host victim must have mimicked the tentacles/arms of a cephalopod and/or jellyfish. One reason why cephalopods and jellyfishes were and are successful throughout the Phanerozoic Eon, is due to their tentacles/arms representing a threat of entrapment and/or a venomous sting to other predators, thus discouraging would-be attacks. Hence, it is hypothesized here, that the ecological mimicry of tentacled animals by the combinatorial lineage of conodonts/lampreys helped them to survive throughout the entire Phanerozoic Eon. This uniquely signifies that their original jawless, armorless, body plan never evolved because it was already of optimal design, which promoted endless life between them.