Northern brook lamprey
| Northern brook lamprey | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Cephalaspidomorphi |
| Order: | Petromyzontiformes |
| Family: | Petromyzontidae |
| Genus: | Ichthyomyzon |
| Species: | I. fossor |
| Binomial name | |
| Ichthyomyzon fossor Reighard and Cummins, 1916 | |
The northern brook lamprey (Ichthyomyzon fossor) is a lamprey found in North America throughout the Great Lakes Watershed. There are limited populations within the Mississippi watershed.
Life cycle
Adults spawn in the spring in the headwaters of streams. 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. Multiple adults may spawn in the same nest, and multiple males may spawn with the same female. As with all lamprey adults die after spawning.
When they first hatch embryos remain in the nest for up to one month before they mature into ammocoetes. Ammocoetes leave the nest and seek out slow flowing sandy areas, where they burrow and begin feeding. Ammocoetes live burrowed for 3-7 years, feeding on microscopic plant and animal life and detritus (decaying matter). Mature ammocoetes will begin to metamorphosis in the late summer through the fall.
References
- Reighard and Cummins, Description of a new species of lamprey of the genus Ichthyomyzon, 1916
External links
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