Creature Feature – Sea Lamprey
This week is the letter ‘L’, and today’s featured creature is the (sea) Lamprey.
An ancient Atlantic fish, they are a jawless, and parasitic species. There are 38 species of lamprey, all of which lack scales, fins, and gill covers. Like sharks, their skeletons are made of cartilage.
Taxonomy
Scientific Name: Petromyzon marinus
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Petromyzontiformes
Family: Petromyzontidae
Genus: Petromyzon
Sea Lamprey Fact File
Size: Individuals can reach lengths of 1.2m and weigh up to 2.5kg
Distribution: This species is native to the northern and western Atlantic Ocean
Diet: Juveniles feed on algae, bacteria and detritus whilst the adult diet is comprised of bony fish
Behaviour: They are migratory, and lay their eggs in clean, sandy gravel in rivers. The young larvae then move to the soft marginal silt of the river to grow and feed. When they are ready they will migrate to sea and start to feed parasitically on other fish by attaching themselves with their sucker-like mouths. They then migrate back into freshwater to spawn, after which they die
IUCN Status: Least Concern. No large-scale threats are currently recorded
