European River Lamprey
Lampetra fluviatilis
Where is it found?
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Rivers and coastal areas
Diet and foraging method
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Attaches itself to the flanks or gills of fish with sucker and rasps away at the tissue of the fish
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Key adaptations
River lampreys are jawless but have round, sucker-like mouths with rows of teeth inside for attaching onto fish and rasping away at their tissue.
Social organisation and mating system
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Promiscuous or polygynous
Did you know that...?
When river lamprey juveniles hatch, they are blind and spend up to 6 years buried in the river bottom before returning to the sea as adults.
Taxonomy
Picture credits:
Maps from: http://species.mol.org/species/
"Jõesilmud2" by Tiit Hunt - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:J%C3%B5esilmud2.jpg#/media/File:J%C3%B5esilmud2.jpg
"Jõesilmud2" by Tiit Hunt - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:J%C3%B5esilmud2.jpg#/media/File:J%C3%B5esilmud2.jpg
