European Brook Lamprey
The European brook lamprey (Lampetra planeri) is a small, eel-like jawless fish of clean European streams. Unlike the sea lamprey, the adult does not feed and does not parasitize other fish.
The European brook lamprey (Lampetra planeri) is a small, eel-like jawless fish of clean European streams. Unlike the sea lamprey, the adult does not feed and does not parasitize other fish.
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open European Brook Lamprey in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Vertebrates lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.
Adults That Don't Eat
After years as filter-feeding larvae buried in stream mud, the lampreys transform into adults with a non-functioning gut. They live only a few months, long enough to spawn in gravel nests before dying.
Nest Building
Groups of lampreys move stones with their oral discs to make shallow nests, and mate in writhing clumps. See Sea Lamprey.
Parasitic and Non-Parasitic
Brook lampreys are thought to have evolved from a parasitic ancestor related to the river lamprey. Pollution and barriers in streams threaten them.
European Brook Lamprey at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Lampetra planeri |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Petromyzontida |
| Order | Petromyzontiformes |
| Family | Petromyzontidae |
| Field Guide group | Marine and Freshwater Fish |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | Small eel-shaped stream fish with a round sucking mouth, seven gill openings behind each eye, and no paired fins; adults never feed. |
| Class | Petromyzontida |
| Adult feeding | None |