Lamprey
A lamprey (sometimes also called lamprey eel) is a jawless fish with a toothed, funnel-like sucking mouth. While lampreys are well known for those species which bore into the flesh of other fish to suck their blood, these species make up the minority. In zoology, lampreys are often not considered to be true fish because of their vastly different morphology and physiology.
Lampreys live mostly in coastal and fresh waters, although at least one species, Geotria australis, probably travels significant distances in the open ocean, as is evidenced by the lack of reproductive isolation between Australian and New Zealand populations, and the capture of a specimen in the Southern Ocean between Australia and Antarctica. They are found in most temperate regions except Africa. Their larvae have a low tolerance for high water temperatures, which is probably why they are not found in the tropics. Outwardly resembling eels, in that they have no scales, an adult lamprey can range anywhere from 13 to 100 centimetres (5 to 40 inches) long. Lampreys have no paired fins, large eyes, one nostril on the top of the head, and seven gills on each side. The unique morphological characteristics of lampreys, such as their cartilaginous skeleton, mean that they are the sister taxon (see cladistics) of all living jawed vertebrates (gnathostomes) and are not classified within the Vertebrata itself. This is disputed by some, who place lampreys within Vertebrata. The hagfish, which superficially resembles the lamprey, is the sister taxon of the lampreys and gnathostomes (a clade termed the Craniata).
Lampreys begin life as burrowing freshwater larvae (ammocoetes). At this stage, they are toothless, have rudimentary eyes, and feed on microorganisms. This larval stage can last five to seven years and hence was originally thought to be an independent organism. After these five to seven years, they transform into adults in a metamorphosis which is at least as radical as that seen in amphibians, and which involves a radical rearrangement of internal organs, development of eyes and transformation from a mud-dwelling filter feeder into an efficient swimming predator, which typically moves into the sea to begin a predatory/parasitic life, attaching their mouth to a fish, secreting an anticoagulant to the host, and feeding on the blood and tissues of the host. In most species this phase lasts about 18 months.
Not all lampreys can be found in the sea. Some lampreys are landlocked and remain in fresh water, and some of these stop feeding altogether as soon as they have left the larval stage. The landlocked species are usually rather small.
To reproduce, lampreys return to fresh water (if they left it), build a nest, then spawn, that is, lay their eggs or excrete their semen, and then invariably die. In Geotria australis, the time between ceasing to feed at sea and spawning can be up to 18 months.
Studies reported in Nature suggest that lampreys have a unique type of immune system with parts that are unrelated to the antibodies found in mammals. They also have a very high tolerance to iron overload, and have biochemical defenses to detoxify this metal.
Lamprey
Lamprey news
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- Sea Sides
- The lamprey is an unusual creature, using its suction-cup-like mouth to attach itself to the skin of a fish and rasping away tissue with its sharp probing ...
- Science Fair
- Sea lampreys are toothy eel-like creatures that evolved about 450 million years ago, before sharks. "They feed on fish by attaching themselves to the fish ...
- Scientists on brink of developing fish contraceptive
- The study created a 3D model of the lamprey oestrogen receptor and found that lamprey oestrogens are almost certainly unique to these fish in their ...
- Shocking to count lamprey
- The US Fish and Wildlife Service is hoping to reduce that population even further in July when it plans to treat the river with a lamprey-specific poison ...
Lamprey
Lamprey blogs
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- Rare bloodsucking lamprey fish return to English rivers
- A favourite dish of kings the rare lamprey fish is back in English rivers.
- Finhand, On Occasion: Static Fish Idea (Spoilers)
- I present to you, sir, Maruhaim the Lamprey Prophet. Lying in a puddle on the floor of the lavishly furnished room is a lamprey eel the size of a car. Lamprey Prophet: KHLKKAKSHHAHKAHKKSHACHHSHKKK! The suit is now bleeding from his eyes ...
- Evolution of a contraceptive for sea lamprey (6/29/2009)
- This could prove important to the Great Lakes region, where lampreys aggressively consume trout, salmon, sturgeon and other game fish. "Since the introduction of sea lamprey to the Great Lakes, the fisheries have been devastated, ...
- Scientists on brink of developing fish contraceptive
- ... used on invasive fish. A team of researchers from the University of California studying the evolution of oestrogen receptors and signalling discovered the active part of the oestrogen receptor in the Sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus. ...
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Lamprey links
- Life in UK Rivers Homepage
- The river lamprey is found only in western Europe, ranging from southern ... The brook lamprey is a purely freshwater species occurring in streams and, ...
- Short illustrated article about lampreys.
- Introduction to the Petromyzontiformes
Lampreys
The long, eel-like fish drinking the blood of this lake trout is one of
nearly fifty species of lampreys, a group of jawless fishes
found in temperate rivers and coastal seas.
Some species live in fresh water for their entire lives. Others, like the... - River lamprey - Lampetra fluviatilis - ARKive
- ARKive - Images of life on Earth. A new digital library of photographs, film clips and accompanying information about endangered species, created by Wildscreen.Overview of River lamprey (Lampetra fluviatilis) in the British Chapter
- BBC News | SCI/TECH | Fish-brained robot at Science Museum
- A robot that is controlled by the brain of a fish goes on display at the Science Museum, London, UK.
- Forget the whale: what about the lamprey? from Guardian Unlimited: News blog
- For instance lampreys - a threatened species of parasitic fish - have returned to the Thames in the last two years, to the excitement of the Thames Explorer ...
Comments
Lamprey
stargazer00 wrote...
Eels are pretty interesting creatures all right.
5* and lensrolled.
Posted August 18, 2008
BYE!
Hope to see you again soon...
HILLANDGLEN 
