Australian lamprey (Mordacia mordax)

Scientific name: Mordacia mordax Richardson, 1846

Australian lamprey (Mordacia mordax)

The Australian lamprey (Mordacia mordax) is a freshwater fish of the family Petromyzontidae. Native range: Southern Ocean, Southeastern Australia from Shoalhaven River, New South Wales to Gulf of St. Vincent, South Australia.

Biology

Adults inhabit the sea for an undetermined period and are parasitic on fishes; enter freshwater to breed. Majority of adulthood is spent in estuaries or at sea. Upstream spawning migrants occur in fast-flowing sections of rivers with a mud, sand or silt substrate, sometimes seen congregated below barriers to upstream movement such as weirs. Ammocoetes live in slow-flowing streams, burrowed in mud or silt. Common length is 35-40 cm.

Source: FishBase, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Species facts

Scientific name
Mordacia mordax
Family
Petromyzontidae (Lampreys)
Order
Petromyzontiformes (Lampreys)
Class
Cephalaspidomorphi (Lampreys)
Maximum length
50.0
Common length
37.5
Environment
Marine; freshwater; brackish; demersal; anadromous
Climate
Temperate
Distribution
Southern Ocean: Southeastern Australia from Shoalhaven River, New South Wales to Gulf of St. Vincent, South Australia.
Conservation status (IUCN)
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Harmless
Uses
Fisheries: of no interest
Resilience
Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.)

Sources

Taxonomy, distribution and biology data: FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds.), licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

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