Pacific Lamprey: Ancient Vertebrate with Unique Feeding Habits and Life Cycle

The Pacific lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus) lives in freshwater or along the North Pacific coast from California to Alaska, and in the Bering Sea from Russia to Japan. Minnows feed on the blood and body fluids of other fish.

Pacific lampreys are special in that they belong to the oldest vertebrate group, the jawless. Today, there are about 40 species of lampreys around the world. These eel-like creatures lived in the currents of rivers and seas long before dinosaurs and even trees. They have survived at least four major mass extinctions.

The skeleton of the Pacific lamprey consists only of cartilage. Instead of a jaw, they have a funnel-shaped sucker with sharp teeth, which they use to tear through the skin of their victims and suck out their blood and other body fluids. As far as we know, lampreys do not eat fish flesh.

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Female lampreys tend to lay up to 200,000 eggs, which have an incubation period of three to four weeks in fresh water. Once the larvae have hatched, they burrow into the riverbed, where they remain for up to ten years. They then go to the ocean to feed, returning to freshwater rivers only after several years to spawn. Adult lampreys can reach a length of 84 centimeters and can swim hundreds of kilometers in search of a suitable spawning ground, Live Science reported.

Pacific lampreys are desirable prey for many species of birds, mammals and fish because of their thick blubber. Crayfish also play a very important role in freshwater and marine ecosystems.

2023-09-25 21:00:00
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