sea lamprey

Petromyzon marinus

A blood feeding lamprey in the Great Lakes

Temperate
Northern Hemisphere
Regional distribution
Atlantic Ocean
Africa
Europe
North America
Anguilliform
Large
Temperate fish

The sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) is a parasitic lamprey native to the Northern Hemisphere. It is sometimes referred to as the "vampire fish". It was likely introduced to the Great Lakes region through the Erie Canal in 1825 and the Welland Canal in 1919 where it has attacked native fish such as lake trout, lake whitefish, chub, and lake herring.

Class: Lampreys
Order: Lampreys
Family: Petromyzontidae
Genus: Petromyzon
Maximum length: 120 cm
Body shape: anguilliform
Distribution: Northeast Atlantic: Norway including Iceland and the Barents Sea, south to northern Africa. Throughout the western and central Mediterranean but absent from eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea (Ref. 59043 ). Western Atlantic: Labrador, Canada to Gulf of Mexico in Florida, USA. Landlocked in Great Lakes, Finger Lakes, Oneida Lake and Lake Champlain, Canada/USA (Ref. 12269 ). Gulf of St. Lawrence to St. Jonhs River in Florida, St. Lawrence-Great Lakes basin; 1 record for Florida panhandle (Ref. 86798 ).
Conservation status: LCLeast Concern

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