![]() “Of all the lamprey species the New Zealand species is quite unique in terms of its freshwater breeding and life stage,” says Cindy “Most lamprey species live in freshwater for two to three months before maturing, breeding and dying. They live another three to four years at sea, parasitically feeding on large animals such as fish and whales, and then they return to a stream to spawn. Young lampreys spend about 3-4 years living in the stream or river where they were spawned, hiding amongst the gravel on the stream bottom. Lampreys are anadromous, which means they are born in freshwater, spend most of their life at sea, and then return to freshwater to spawn. This is also where the exaggerated tales of lampreys attacking people come from (and the web is full of such scary stories). “You end up with multiple lampreys feeding on each fish in the Great Lakes, and it’s destroying their native fisheries,” says Cindy. The most infamous lampreys are the sea lampreys that have become a pest in the Great Lakes system of North America. There are about 38 species found world-wide - and of these only 18 are parasitic in their feeding style. There is one species of lamprey in New Zealand, the pouched or wide-mouthed lamprey ( Geotria australis), which is also found in Australia and South America. The dent in the top of the head is a single nostril - the lamprey has an extremely sensitive sense of smell. You will not be attacked by an adult lamprey in a New Zealand stream or river – so, with that reassurance in mind, keep on reading (or listening) to find out why.Īn adult lamprey using its circular mouth to suck onto a person's arm. Now, in case this sounds like a scary case of ‘coming to a river near you’, we should reassure you and note that this is NOT typical behaviour of a lamprey in freshwater. As long as they have a wet surface they’re very adept at climbing up waterfalls and around obstacles in the water.” ![]() They have a large sucker mouth that they use to help themselves migrate and they can scale vertical walls. “They’re amazingly good at jumping out of containers. It’s a striking demonstration of how strong and agile New Zealand lampreys can be, as well as how efficient their unusual parasitic feeding style is, and Cindy says they put this to good use when they are migrating. Cindy doesn't let this particular lamprey linger on her arm for long, before she grabs hold of it firmly and pulls it off with a sucking sound.īut the lamprey has already left its mark: a neat circle of puncture wounds already oozing a little blood. Lampreys – or vampire fish as they’re sometimes called – have perfected the art of latching onto large animals at sea, such as fish and whales, and using their sharp teeth to rasp into the flesh to suck out a feed of blood. ![]() Once it has a good grip Cindy lets go and the eel-like fish just dangles, taking all its own body weight. ![]() Then it latches on, using hundreds of small teeth as well as the fleshy sucker that surrounds its small circular mouth. The lamprey twists and writhes as NIWA freshwater scientist Cindy Baker holds its mouth next to the soft skin of her forearm. The lamprey is a strong climber and capable of holding its own weight and scaling vertical waterfalls. Freshwater scientist Cindy Baker demonstrates how a lamprey can latch itself onto an arm, just as it does with fish and whales at sea, using its teeth and sucker-like mouth. ![]()
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