Pacific lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus) belongs to a group of ancient fish called Agnatha that evolved 450 million years ago. Photo/NOAA/Live Science
MOSCOW – Pacific Lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus) belongs to a group of ancient fish called Agnatha which evolved 450 million years ago, predating dinosaurs and trees. Fish This mysterious creature has no jaws and likes to suck the blood and body fluids of its prey until they are dry.
Pacific lampreys live in freshwater and marine ecosystems in the North Pacific, from California to Alaska, and across the Bering Sea to Russia and Japan. This fish can feed on the blood and body fluids of other fish, including Pacific salmon, flatfish, rockfish, and Pacific hake.
Pacific lampreys belong to a group of ancient jawless fish that evolved more than 450 million years ago during the Ordovician period (485 million to 444 million years ago). Quoted from the Live Science page, Sunday (24/9/2023), there are around 40 species of living lamprey spread throughout the world.
“These eel-like creatures have been swimming up and down rivers long before dinosaurs and even trees, and have survived at least four mass extinctions,” wrote Live Science.
Pacific lampreys are boneless fish, and their skeletons are made entirely of cartilage. Instead of jaws, they have sucker mouths surrounded by teeth, which they use to latch onto prey and extract blood and body fluids.
As far as scientists know, lampreys do not eat meat. Female Pacific lampreys lay up to 200,000 eggs in a nest and are hatched in fresh water over a period of three to four weeks.
Once the larvae hatch, they burrow into sediment and remain buried for up to a decade. They emerge as juveniles and migrate downstream towards the sea in search of food, only returning to freshwater habitats several years later to reproduce.
Adult fish, which grow to a length of 84 centimeters, can travel hundreds of miles inland in search of the perfect spawning and rearing site. Pacific lampreys are highly desired prey for many species of birds, mammals, and fish because of their extremely fatty meat.
Pacific lamprey contains three to five times more calories than salmon by weight. Therefore, they play an important role in freshwater and marine ecosystems.
(wib)
2023-09-24 15:18:11
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