Pacific lamprey (Lampetra tridentata)

Scientific name: Lampetra tridentata Richardson, 1836

The Pacific lamprey (Lampetra tridentata) is a freshwater fish of the family Petromyzontidae.

Biology

Characterized by the presence of 3 large sharp teeth on the supraoral bar and three sharp points on each of the central lateral tooth plates. Dorsal fins arise far back on the body, the anterior fin lower and shorter, higher in males; lower lobe of caudal fin larger than upper, the lobes joined to dorsal and anal fins; anal fin rudimentary, virtually absent in males. Adults from the sea blue-black to greenish above, silvery to white below; spawning adults become reddish brown.

Source: FishBase, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Species facts

Scientific name
Lampetra tridentata
Family
Petromyzontidae (Lampreys)
Order
Petromyzontiformes (Lampreys)
Class
Cephalaspidomorphi (Lampreys)
Maximum length
76.0
Common length
41.0
Depth range
0–1100 m (0–3609 ft)
Environment
Marine; freshwater; brackish; demersal; anadromous; depth range 0 - 1100 m
Climate
Temperate
Distribution
North Pacific: Bering Sea coasts of Asia and Alaska southward to the Yuhutu River, Hokkaido, northern Japan and Punta Canoas, central Baja California, Mexico. The populations were, at one time, split into two groups as Entosphenus tridentatus tridentatus which ranged from the Columbia River to Alaska, and Entosphenus tridentatus ciliatus which ranged from Klamath River southwards. This division no longer holds. Freshwater resident populations exist in Culrus Lake and the Columbia River, British Columbia, the Sprague River in Oregon, the Goose Lake in Oregon/California, and the Klamath and Shasta rivers and Copco Lake in California.
Conservation status (IUCN)
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Harmless
Uses
Fisheries: subsistence fisheries
Resilience
Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (tm 6-8; Fec=10,000-106,000 (semelparous))

Sources

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

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