| American brook lamprey | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Cephalaspidomorphi |
| Order: | Petromyzontiformes |
| Family: | Petromyzontidae |
| Genus: | Lampetra |
| Species: | L. appendix |
| Binomial name | |
| Lampetra appendix (DeKay, 1842) |
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The American brook lamprey (Lampetra appendix), is non-parasitic, and their disc-like mouths contain poorly developed teeth, useless for attaching to a host.
Blind and wormlike as ammocoetes or larvae, the American brook lamprey metamorphoses into a brown cylinder, almost 8 inches long. Adults have a dark back, pale belly, yellowish fins and a dark blotch at the end of the tail. Their skin is smooth and leathery and without scales. Brook lamprey are only found in clear, cold brooks and small streams.
Spawning takes place in spring. The males (aided by females) construct small nests by picking up pebbles with their mouths and moving them to form the rims of shallow depressions. The sticky eggs are deposited in the nest and adhere to the sand and gravel. Adult brook lampreys die after spawning.
When they first hatch, young lamprey are called ammocoetes. Ammocoetes burrow into the sand and silt where they live for 3-7 years, feeding on microscopic plant and animal life and detritus. Shortly before spawning, ammocoetes metamorphose into sexually mature adult fish. Adult brook lamprey cannot eat, since they have a nonfunctional intestine, and only live for four to six months.[1]
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