Creature Day

 

What a bloody cold morning here this Tuesday and it's creature day today it is something called the European River Lamprey. It is of course a fish.

This jawless eel-like thing attaches itself to larger fish and drinks its blood.

It's round sucker like mouth contains two rows of circular teeth that help it cling to the host as it swims. It has one nostril and seven breathing holes along each side of its body behind the eyes, and grows to 30cm in length.

Similar to salmon, European river lamprey migrates from coastal waters to inland breeding grounds to spawn. They swim up stream in autumn and winter, lay eggs in the spring and die. Their young take 2-3 years to mature, feeding on bacteria in the stream before heading out to sea.