[ID] Lamprey

[Fauna]

Sadly this specimen was found dead in a fishing boat, it must have come off a fish unnoticed by the angler

I believe this to be a transformer of the Sea Lamprey, can anyone confirm or is it simply the River Lamprey











The patternation on the oral disc looks right, but i've very little experience with these species so unable to be 100% on Sea Lamprey.

[Geoff F]

I think it probably is the Sea Lampery. I've only got a very old fish ID book at home but it states that the Sea Lampery has 2 maxillary teeth while the Lampern (River Lampery) only has one.

Both of these species attach themselves to sea fish for around a year then let go and swim up a river to breed. The larger Sea Lampery (up to 3 ft) will attach itself to fish which swim long distances such as Basking Sharks while the smaller Lampern is more coastal and may stay within larger river estuaries.

There is also the Brook Lampery which only lives in fresh water.

Last year, while fishing commercially, I also accidentally caught one about this time of the year. It must have been attached to a pollack or wrasse and came aboard unnoticed until I was washing down after clearing the nets.

Does this help.

Geoff.

[Fauna]

Cheers Geoff.

You may like to know that this particular specimen is from a landlocked reservior. They are able to get in as eggs but the young and adults are there to stay. They are pumped in from a river through a pipe with a mesh grid of 0.34 mm holes( i think thats right, probably well off with size). I'm trying to learn about these species to see if they have become to breed in the reservoir?

An angler brought me a lamprey last week, it was exactly the same size of the one in the pic but the pattern on the oral disc was totaly different. This one was the River Lamprey (it was returned unarmed).

There's thought that the River and Brook lamprey are actually "paired species".

Where abouts do you fish Geoff? Pm me if like

[Geoff F]

Hello Chris. For 35 years I worked an 8 metre fishing boat (started off in feet) from S. Devon. Mostly worked pots but also did the occasional bit of netting. Took early partial retirement at the end of last year.

My fish ID book was printed in 1925 and even then there was some controversy about the origin of Lamperys especially the Brook Lampery.

If the entry water comes from a river then it is quite possible for eggs to have initially entered the reservoir that way and there is now a 'captive' breeding stock.

At one time there was a commercial fishery in the Severn and I heard that they are considered a delicacy in some contintental areas. Wasn't there an English King who died from a surfeit of Lamperys?

[RobSutton]

Originally Posted by Geoff F

Wasn't there an English King who died from a surfeit of Lamperys?

King Henry I

[weirdwolf]

Originally Posted by RobSutton

King Henry I

Although to be fair, looking at it makes me think that eating one would be a sufeit.

[Geoff F]

Found my reference book now; interesting side note. Henry I died in December 1135 so how did he get hold of Lampreys then? Assuming that the adults are missing until they return in Spring to breed. Was it the small Brook Lampreys or did they have a captive breeding programme?

Did they dry or salt them, which would explain getting serious food poisoning?

Sounds like a whole new can of worms here. On reflection, perhaps that is the wrong metaphor.

[The Woodman]

It could be a three/four year oldish juvenile River Lamprey past its ammocete stage. They usually measure as adults 300 -400 mm. Adult Brook Lampreys are around 120 -240 mm.

There's a good bit of history conected with sea lampreys from the River Severn.

At the time of our present Queen's coronation, her private secretary Sir Alan Lascelles did some research into the supply of lampreys to the royals by the City of Gloucester.

in the ancient Pipe Rolls, he found that Gloucester sent 300 lampreys in 1194 to maintain the Kings protection. In 1200 King John fined the men of Gloucester 40 Marks because "they did not pay sufficient respect in the matter of his lampreys".

King Henry I died from a surfiet of lampreys but he was apparently in France at the time and it is unlikely that the fish came from Gloucester.

Hery III who was crowned with his mothers bracelet in Gloucester Cathederal instructed the Sheriff of Gloucester in 1242 to "repair the King's lamprey weirs on the River Severn".

It is also known that in the mid 1600's a chap called Thomass Suffield sent lamprey pies to Oliver Cromwell and Parliament men for which he was paid £8, a large sum in those days. This practice was continued until 1835 when the City Council abolished it. The custom has been revived for the Coronation, the Silver and Golden Jubilees.

Severn fishermen used to catch them in wicker basket traps similar to salomon putchers set in ranks on the edges of the river. They were commonly used for eel bait.

Faunas image appears to be a sea lamprey. I have seen this species spawning in our South Lakes rivers in the first two weeks of July at the top of the tidal limit where they make redds in gravel as big as salmon redds. I have given a couple of locations in a previous thread a while back. Instead of moving stones with their tails as salmon do, they move every individual stone using their mouth. An amazing site.

As far as I know, Brook lampreys spend their entire life in freshwater whilst River Lampreys run in from the sea as do sea lampreys to spawn. The Brook Lamreys two dorsal fins are continuous, the other two species do not.

Your local Environment Agency Fisheries dept. would be interested in your observation as many of us on WAB are.

[tcvarlh]

Musn't forget either that the calendar was a tad different then. Was the date Gregorian or Julian?

Queen Liz II got a Lamprey pie served at her Coronation cooked by the RAF (not all of 'em, just the cooking bods)

Poor woman's been made to eat some weird stuff in her life, Sea Slugs in China and I don't know what else, must have a gut of casement iron.

h

[The Woodman]

Having had a good look at your images Fauna, especially the mouth and the silvery colour, I've had a change of mind. The circumstances are interesting as to its presence in the reservoir.

I'd agree that is a transformer of the Sea Lamprey. A classic case of the Woodmans mouth in top gear and brain in neutral.