Among the most primitive of all vertebrate species, the sea lamprey is a parasitic fish native to the northern and western Atlantic Ocean. The native range of the sea lamprey includes the Atlantic coast of North America from Newfoundland to northern Florida, the Atlantic coast of Europe, and the Baltic, western Mediterranean and Adriatic seas. The sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) is one of four lamprey species found in the Lake Champlain Basin. Today Sea Lampreys are also found in all of the Great Lakes. Unlike "bony" fishes like trout, cod, and herring, lampreys lack scales, fins, and gill covers. Lists general information and resources for Sea Lamprey. The best way to distinguish the two is through size: the sea lampreys that have found their way into Finnish waters have been over 50 cm in length, whereas … Adult sea lamprey. Sea Lamprey: A Great Lakes Invader. Lampreys have sucker mouths with rasp-like teeth and seven circular gill openings on each side. Description and ecological characteristics. The adult lamprey may be characterized by a toothed, funnel-like sucking mouth. It is the largest of the lampreys found in the UK. Sea lamprey. Effective methods to control invasive Sea Lampreys Petromyzon marinus in the Laurentian Great Lakes often rely on knowledge of the timing of the Sea Lamprey spawning migration, which has previously been characterized using data gathered from traps. View the petMar2 genome assembly in … All three British and Irish lamprey species are listed under Annex II of the European Union Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC). It occurs in estuaries and easily accessible rivers, and is an anadromous species (i.e. Sea lamprey is a cartilaginous fish without jaws. Due to their similar body shapes, lampreys are sometimes inaccurately called "lamprey eels." Distribution The sea lamprey inhabits Atlantic coastal rivers throughout eastern North America and western Europe, as far south as the western Mediterranean Sea and the gulf coast of Florida (Scott and Crossman 1973). Lamprey are eel-shaped fish with a skeleton made of cartilage and they belong to a relic (primitive) group of jawless fishes called Agnathans. spawning in freshwater but completing its life cycle in the sea). One sea lamprey can upset an ecosystem and food chain by eating an estimated 40 pounds of fish or more in its lifetime. Sea Lamprey Sea lampreys have been one of the most devastating invasive species to enter the Great Lakes. It can grow to more than 5lb (2.2kg) in weight, and as thick and as long as a man's arm. Over time, they’ve contributed to the decline of native fish populations and threaten a multi-billion dollar fishing industry. Sea lampreys live in marine environments but spawn in … Eel-like in appearance, but not an eel. Sea lampreys are considered rare in Florida because there are less than ten documented records of lamprey caught from state waters in the last century. The Sea Lamprey seen here attached to an angler's wader is the largest of the three lamprey species found in our rivers. Among the most primitive of all vertebrate species, the sea lamprey is a parasitic fish native to the northern and western Atlantic Ocean. The sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus is a primitive, jawless fish resembling an eel. Lampreys (sometimes inaccurately called lamprey eels) are an ancient extant lineage of jawless fish of the order Petromyzontiformes, placed in the superclass Cyclostomata. Sea lamprey may also be impacted by a decline in host species due to overfishing of marine fish stocks (Nislow and Kenard 2009).