Animalia --> Chordata --> Hyperoartia

Petromyzon marinus - Sea Lamprey

Identification

Sea lampreys have large discs full of teeth for sucking blood off other fish. They are grey or dark brown with cylindrical bodies.

Life Cycle

P. marinus spends several years as larvae in freshwater habitats before metamorphosis allows for migration to the sea. There, lampreys attach to fish and suck their blood through a disc-like mouth with a hardened, drill-like tongue surrounded by inward-facing teeth. Mature lampreys migrate upstream to spawning areas and reproduce sexually.

Silva S, Servia MJ, Vieira-Lanero R, Barca S, Cobo F (2013) Life cycle of the sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus: duration of and growth in the marine life stage. Aquat Biol 18:59-62. https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00488

Host Information

Sea lampreys preferentially select for larger hosts. They co-evolved with fish in the Atlantic Ocean, Lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence river, where parasitism does not usually result in host death. One study on the impact of lamprey and host size, temperature, and duration of parasitism found that temperature had the most significant impact on host losses, with higher temperatures resulting in higher fish host death rates.

Distribution

Sea lampreys are found along North Atlantic coats of Europe and North America. They are invasive to North American great lakes. Larvae develop best and P. marinus are most active around temperatures between 19 and 21 degrees celsius.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11160-016-9440-3#:~:text=Introduction-,The%20sea%20lamprey%20Petromyzon%20marinus%20(Linnaeus)%20is%20both%20an%20invasive,1).