How does lamprey differ from fish? River lamprey - a predatory fish without a jaw: description with photos and videos, what it looks like, are lampreys dangerous for humans

river lamprey is a representative of a whole group of lower vertebrates. Belongs to the order of lampreys from the lamprey family. Looks like a huge worm. Although, despite the fact that its appearance scares people away, it is consumed as food in many countries around the world. So this representative is one of the most popular for fishing. According to researchers, fish appeared on our planet more than 300 million years ago and have hardly changed since then. It was also recently discovered that this fish can eat human blood.

Appearance of lamprey fish

There are large number There are two types of this fish, but mainly there are only two: river and sea. In appearance, both of these species are very similar, but they can be distinguished by their size.

By the river body It looks like a cylinder, it also does not have paired fins. When it's time to reproduce, females grow an anal fin and increase in size during spawning. dorsal fins, but at the same time the teeth become dull. Her back has dark shades, and her sides are silver, at the same time her belly is painted completely in white.

The sea lamprey has the same body shape as the river lamprey. However, the mouth of this species has a round shape with a fringed edge. On the front of the lamprey there are seven openings for the gills. Color may vary depending on where it lives. Mostly individuals are found with gray or green coloring. There are also black marble-like patterns all over the body.

Representatives of these fish have absolutely absent an air bubble and paired fins, so this fish absolutely cannot swim and lives on the bottom. And also she does not have a single bone in her body structure, the only thing she has is a spine and a head, consisting of cartilage.

The mouth cavity of the fish is similar to the mouth of leeches. There are about a hundred teeth in the fish's jaws, and they are even present on the tongue.

Lamprey sizes

The initial life form of the lamprey is larva, has dimensions from 10 to 15 centimeters. The transitional form reaches a maximum size of 50 centimeters and has a mass of 150 grams. The sea lamprey is the largest species of the lamprey family and measures up to one and a half meters, and the maximum weight reached three kilograms.

Distribution and habitats

Sea lampreys are often found in coastal waters. So, they were caught near Gibraltar and in the seas of Iceland. Whole populations of the species were also found in the Adriatic and Mediterranean Sea.

river lampreys live in rivers that flow into the Baltic and North Seas. It can also be found in Karelia, Finland, Sweden and Great Britain.

In Russia, fishermen caught these fish in Lakes Onega and Ladoga, as well as in the rivers Luga, Narva, Neva, and Voronezh. Lampreys live mainly at depths of up to one hundred meters.

Lifestyle

Name Pisces is translated as "Licking Stone". This is due to the fact that it is with the help of her tongue that she digs into her victim.
Various underwater inhabitants often become victims of lampreys. She hunts mainly at night. It feeds mainly on the blood of the prey. According to researchers, these fish are dangerous to humans, as they are able to drink their blood. Thus, in 2009, a case of attack was recorded during which a fish bit into a man’s leg. They were able to remove the fish from the person’s body only in the hospital. But as scientists assure, lampreys not fatal dangerous to humans.
This fish is one of the laziest creatures on the planet, as it leads an extremely sedentary lifestyle and may not move for several weeks. Because of this, it often becomes food for larger marine predators.
Since these fish do not know how to swim, they have to move with the help of other fish, for this they cling to them and swim wherever they want.
The predator, due to its sedentary lifestyle, is almost omnivorous. Probably thanks to this feature, the species has existed for more than 300 million years.

Lamprey nutrition

One of my favorites delicacies for lampreys there are other fish that dare to swim past them. To find a victim, a representative of this species clings to some object at the bottom and waits. Fish can also feed on already dead fish. And until they are fully mature, lampreys do not need food at all.

Reproduction

During spawning, females grow an anus and their dorsal fin increases in size. Reproduction occurs mainly with the onset of summer, when the water temperature reaches ten degrees Celsius. To do this, male lampreys build a special shelter where the female can lay eggs. Spawning usually occurs in a group, so up to six males can mate with one female. The female can lay up to 40 thousand. eggs at one time. Caviar has an oval shape with a size of about one millimeter. The males die immediately after spawning.

The larvae appear after about two weeks. At birth they measure approximately four millimeters. After about another week, the larvae begin to swim away from their nest with the current, after which they burrow into the mud and begin to look for food. Fish remain in larval form for about five years. When they reach a size of 20 centimeters, they develop into sandworms. They remain at this stage for another three years. After which they become mature representatives of lampreys.

Interesting facts

River and sea lampreys produce poison in their bodies that prevents blood from clotting. When it bites, it releases venom into its victim; the venom of the fish is believed to be fatal.
You can meet representatives of lampreys almost anywhere peace.
In 2014, the Americans made a horror film about this type of fish, “Bloody Lake of Lampreys.” According to the story, lampreys got tired of eating other fish and decided to attack people.
The Roman Emperor Gaius Julius Caesar once wanted to carry out execution by throwing a man into a lake with lampreys. But the fish only bit the victim a couple of times and then swam away.

Lamprey is the name of a whole group of lower vertebrates, and they are included in the class of cyclostomes. Lampreys form only one order, which is called lampreyformes, and in this order there is only one family, which is called lampreys. Within the family there are about four dozen species, among which there are both river and sea species. Some fish species have become very rare, for example, the Ukrainian lamprey, which is shown in the photo below. Lamprey is a fish that has commercial significance for humans.

Appearance and diversity of lampreys

There is a wide variety of lampreys, but two main forms of fish can be distinguished: river lamprey and sea lamprey. They are very similar in appearance, but very different in size. You can verify this by looking at the photo. The first photo shows a river lamprey, the second - a sea lamprey. The only significant difference is the color of the sea fish.

The river lamprey has a cylindrical body that does not have paired fins. During spawning, females grow an anal fin. By spawning, all lampreys, regardless of gender, have high dorsal fins and blunt teeth. The back of the fish is dark, almost black, and the sides are silver, while the belly is almost white. The running representatives of this family are painted in a metallic bronze color, but when the fish enters the river, it changes color to dark blue and matte.

Of particular interest is oral apparatus, which is presented in the photo below: it is because of this that the fish is dangerous to humans. The edges of the plate on the upper jaw have one sharp tooth, while there are 7 teeth on the lower jaw. On upper lip There are 4–13 teeth, they are scattered chaotically. There are 2 internal labial teeth, but no external lateral teeth. In the photo sea creatures The lamprey's mouth is identical to that of the river lamprey.

The sea lamprey also has a cylindrical body. The oral funnel is round and has a fringed edge. The front part of the fish's body has seven gill openings. The color can be different: it depends on where this amazing fish lives. Usually there are individuals with a light gray or light green body color. But it is not uniform: a black pattern can be discerned throughout the body, like a natural mineral - marble.

Lamprey larvae grow up to 8 or 15 centimeters in length, which takes them from 4 to 6 years. The transitional lamprey has a maximum size of 48 centimeters with a weight of 150 grams. Large residential forms of lamprey reach a length of 33 centimeters, and small ones - up to 25 centimeters. The sea lamprey is the largest species, reaching a length of about 1.2 meters with a maximum weight of 2 kilograms and 500 grams.

Distribution and habitats

The river form of lamprey is common in river basins flowing into the Baltic and North Seas. Lampreys are found in Karelia, Finland, Sweden and England. In Russia, this fish is found in Lakes Onega and Ladoga, in the rivers Luga, Narva and Neva, Voronezh. Individuals are found at depths of up to 100 meters.

Marine forms are found mainly in coastal waters of the seas. Found from Gibraltar to Iceland, as well as White Sea. There are populations in the Adriatic and Mediterranean Sea, off the coast North America. There are no lampreys in the Black Sea. Sandfish, as the larvae of the fish are called, live in rivers that flow into the sea for several years, and only then do they swim away to live in the sea.

Diet

Reproduction

The small lamprey reaches sexual maturity when its body length reaches from 18 to 25 centimeters, very rarely this occurs at a length of 12.5 centimeters. River forms remain for spawning in rivers, and sea fish rises from the coast along the rivers. While the lamprey ascends the river, it changes externally and internally: caviar and milt ripen, the intestines stop working, turning into a narrow cord, they stop working salivary glands, which are located in the oral funnel. The fins on the back enlarge, the distance between them decreases, the males develop a genital papilla, and the female an anal fin. The lamprey's teeth become dull.

Spawning begins in May or June, when the water temperature rises to 10 or 14 degrees Celsius. Rocky rifts become spawning grounds. The female lays from 4 to 40 thousand eggs in a nest made by the male. Lamprey spawns in groups, so up to 6 males swim to the nest together with the female: eggs from two females usually fit in one nest. Caviar has an oval shape and its size is approximately 1 millimeter. The lamprey spawns once in its life, after which it dies.

Lamprey eggs are found in incubation period from 13 to 15 days at a temperature of 14 degrees, and up to 13 at a temperature of 17–18 degrees Celsius. Lampreys hatch after fertilization on the 11th or 14th day: a photo of a lamprey larva is presented below. The river lamprey larva is also called a spindle. For humans, the larvae resemble worms, a little more than 3 millimeters long, their body is colored light yellow.

Sandworms, so called because they like to burrow into the ground, hide between pebbles and stones, where they lie motionless for several days. At this time, they feed on the yolk that remains with them after hatching: it is concentrated in the liver area. The lamprey begins to burrow into the ground when its length is 6 millimeters; it lingers in silted areas of the river with a small current, but is often carried down the river by it. The color of the lamprey merges with the color of the bottom. The larvae feed by filtering water through internal filters.

Marinated lamprey fillet - a delicacy

These creatures live in almost all reservoirs of the Southern and Northern Hemisphere, found even in the basin There are about 40 species of lampreys, which are divided into three types: sea, river and stream. The size of the fish depends on the living conditions. The brook ones are the smallest, reaching a length of about 10 cm, and the sea ones are the largest, growing up to one meter. Thanks to the latter, information spread that the lamprey is dangerous to humans, since the fish has repeatedly attacked bathing people.

In appearance, this inhabitant of the depths is more reminiscent of an eel: there are no scales, and pectoral and ventral paired fins are also not observed. The lamprey became famous thanks to its unusual respiratory system, a ring-shaped mouth with many horny teeth and a predilection for eating the muscle and blood of dead and living fish. Since lampreys do not have paired fins or a swim bladder, they live mostly at the bottom of lakes, rivers and seas.

Lamprey gather in large colonies before spawning. The fish is capable of laying about 10 thousand eggs, most of which are buried under stones. After this, the lamprey dies. The larvae appear after three weeks, they look like small worms burrowing into the sand. The young are very different from their parents, so they were even identified as a separate species, called sandworms. For 5 years they look like ordinary fish, and only then acquire an adult appearance.

The lamprey creature has been known to mankind since ancient times. The oldest specimen discovered by archaeologists lived approximately 360 million years ago. Many peoples have eaten this fish for thousands of years, as its meat is very nutritious and tasty. The ancient Romans considered lamprey and eels a delicacy. In Europe, only wealthy citizens could afford such fish. Lamprey is dangerous to humans if eaten regularly. The death of King Henry I of England is directly related to it, because he loved dishes with fish and ate them in large quantities, but lamprey meat is quite fatty.

It is impossible to say for sure that the lamprey is dangerous to humans; it can bite, but this will not lead to death. In addition, fish do not specifically attack people. There is a known case when Julius Caesar, as a means of executing a guilty slave, threw him into a pond with huge sea lampreys. At first they attacked the unfortunate man, but, realizing that he was a man and not a fish, they retreated. These creatures spoil the fish as they are sucked into it and cause fatal wounds by gnawing off pieces of meat. But they themselves become prey for burbot, catfish, eels and other large sea creatures. There are cases when lampreys attacked a person, but this, apparently, was due to negligence.

Niramin - Sep 12th, 2015

The favorite habitat of the river jawless lamprey is riverbeds large rivers, silted shores. But it is also found in lakes and seas. Prefers hidden night image life, likes to burrow into the ground. There are no bones or ribs in it.

Externally, the lamprey has nothing in common with ordinary fish species. The body of this wonderful, but eerie fish, is snake-like, devoid of scales. The jawless lamprey has no fins, but in the middle of the head there is a nasal opening and a mouth, very similar to the mouth of leeches.

This creature feeds exclusively on fish or carrion.

The creepy fish is not capable of killing a person, but it can injure. Therefore, fishermen try to grab the caught lamprey by the head below the sucker.

There are 7 small holes on each side of the thick end of the jawless lamprey’s body. Therefore, on the Kama she was aptly nicknamed the seven-hole. “Lamprey” obviously came from the German Neunauge (nine-eyed) - the Germans showed more observation.

With teeth densely set on a ring-shaped lip and cartilaginous plates, the lamprey drills into the skin of fish and, with the help of its tongue, eats deeply into it. By the way, the tongue of lampreys is also lined with teeth and works like a piston.

Active fishing on long worm is carried out in a few areas. Traps on amazing fish placed in the spawning area. Light lamps are lined up along the length of the river bed so that there remains a small dark corridor where the lamprey passes.

River lamprey - very delicious delicacy. The fish is fried and marinated.

Photo: River lamprey glides along the river bottom.

Video: How to catch lamprey with your hands

River lamprey is a fish that looks like a huge worm. Despite its far from attractive appearance, it is becoming increasingly popular as a fishing item for fishermen, since residents of many countries use lampreys as food.

Either it's a fish or it's not

Thanks to their long (sometimes up to 1 meter), snake-like and mucus-covered body, lampreys closely resemble eels. Due to their unique physiology, zoologists do not classify them as classic fish, classifying these primitive vertebrates as a special class of cyclostomes.

A special feature of this strange-looking fish is the absence of paired fins and bones. The skeleton consists of cartilage, and the spine is replaced by a flexible rod. Its gills are also unusual; there are 7 gill openings on the sides, for which the river lamprey received another name among the people - seven-hole. Three eyes on her head also do not add to her attractiveness. The rounded mouth is the same as that of a leech. It plays the role of a suction cup, with the help of which the fish can stick to stones or snags. The river lamprey is a predator. About a hundred teeth located along the edges of the mouth allow it to make a hole in the victim’s skin and eat into it using its tongue, which also has a row of teeth.

The lamprey is mainly found in freshwater rivers and coastal sea waters. The movements of these animals into the open sea are not so rare. Found in river basins North Sea, along the coasts of Italy, France, Norway, England. In Russia it often enters the rivers of the Gulf of Finland to spawn and Kaliningrad region. The river lamprey is especially common on the Baltic coast, where it lives almost everywhere. Less common in rivers of Belarus; single specimens are present in the Neman and Western Dvina.

Lamprey lifestyle

Despite the fact that this fish is a predator, it moves very sluggishly. This slowness is explained by the fact that the lamprey’s diet consists of dead animals and fish, as well as organic matter, which are found predominantly in silt. Therefore, there is no need to chase the prey to catch it. The lamprey manages to move long distances by clinging to some fish. Then her victim serves not only as a source of food, but also as a means of transportation.

On the other hand, such a sedentary lifestyle makes the lamprey an easy prey for other predators that live in the water, especially such as burbot, catfish, and eel, which live at the bottom of the river.

Lamprey (fish) sometimes poses a danger to fishermen.

The photo, which shows river fishing at the moment of catching a lamprey, clearly shows how it is necessary to hold this predator so that it does not sink its teeth into your hand.

Basic nutrition

Spawning

Lampreys become sexually mature when they reach a length of 20-25 cm. They rise into the rivers in the spring - from the end of May to mid-June, when the water warms up to 12-13 degrees. Migrations are carried out mainly at night, because due to the negative reaction to light, the lamprey’s course depends on the phase of the moon - dark night it's more intense. During the ripening period of eggs, the fish's body undergoes some changes. The teeth become blunter, the dorsal fins enlarge, and the intestines degenerate.

The male builds the nest. With its body, it clears a small area at the bottom of the river (up to 50 cm wide), even removing stones from it. By sucking on them and immediately jumping away sharply, he manages to take them out of the nest. He can also push out an uninvited guest in the form of another male.

By the time construction is completed, a female appears at the nest. Having attached itself to a stone, it lays eggs. At this time, the male wraps his body around her and helps squeeze out the eggs, pouring milk on them. At the end of spawning, both producers huddle in a dark place and die.

The river lamprey has a fecundity of 16,000 to 40,000 eggs, pear-shaped and about 1 mm in size.

Sanders

After about 2 weeks, small (up to 3 mm) larvae appear from the eggs. They differ significantly from adults and appearance, and behavior, therefore they are separated into a separate species called sand sanders.

After just 3 days, they double in size and begin to burrow into the silt, screwing into it with snake-like movements of the body and taking a vertical pose. After 3 weeks, sandworms roll down to places where the current is slower and burrow into the ground there, where they actively feed on diatoms. Before the larvae become real lampreys, many more metamorphoses will occur to them.

Danger to humans

Cases of lampreys attacking people are extremely rare. More often it happens that a predator may attack through negligence, mistaking a person for a fish. However, the river lamprey is dangerous to humans because, when bitten, it releases a substance that prevents blood clotting. Doctors recommend that in such cases, consult a doctor immediately to prevent the possibility of destruction of red blood cells and prevent tissue breakdown.

Features of lamprey fishing

There are many hunters for this fish, because people have been eating it for thousands of years, despite its eerie appearance. Moreover, this delicacy was previously available only to very wealthy citizens.

River lamprey is caught with a variety of gear. Many experienced fishermen know how to catch it using a net, seine and other traps. These devices are used to block the river, placing them close to each other and attaching them to installed stakes.

Lamprey even in industrial scale Quite often they are caught using the snout (beetroot). This tackle is a cone up to 80 cm long, consisting of metal or plastic rings. The wide part of it, where there is a funnel, is plugged with a plug, and this structure is installed on the bottom of the river. Once a fish gets inside, it can no longer get out. Thus, up to 50 lampreys can enter it in one night.

Today, experiments are quite successful when river lamprey is caught using electric light. Special lanterns for underwater lighting are installed in such a way that the entire water space is flooded with light, except for the area along the river core, forming a dark corridor. Thanks to the negative reaction of the lamprey to light, the fish begins to move through this unlit area, falling into the traps placed there.

Nutritional value

River lamprey is quite highly valued for its nutritional and taste qualities. Its calorie content is approximately 88 kcal, which is 4% daily norm. Of these, 70% are proteins, 18% are fats, and 0% carbohydrates. This is one of the fattest fish in the world. Lamprey meat contains vitamin PP and minerals such as nickel, molybdenum, fluorine, chlorine and chromium. Due to the fact that fish does not contain bone tissue, bile, or food residues in the intestines, it can be consumed whole. Lamprey is fried in special ovens, after which it is sometimes also marinated. This product is especially popular in the Baltic states.

Cooking

You need to approach the process of preparing dishes from this fish very carefully, strictly following all recommendations for preparing it for consumption. The fact is that the mucus with which the river lamprey is covered is dangerous for humans, because it is very toxic, so first it is washed thoroughly and for a very long time. At the slightest sign of a white color appearing on the fish, it should be thrown away immediately, otherwise there is a high risk of poisoning. Fresh lamprey should have clean gill openings and a flexible body. The washed carcass is sprinkled with salt at the rate of 3 tablespoons per kilogram of fish and left for half an hour, then rinsed thoroughly again under running water and gutting begins. For this difficult procedure, it is better to use nail scissors, making a cut in the direction from the tail to the head and removing the small intestine. After gutting, the fish must be thoroughly washed again.

Recipes

To prevent the remains of toxic mucus from penetrating into the body of the fish during cooking, the lamprey is only fried. This method guarantees the complete destruction of toxins, which are completely destroyed at temperatures above 80⁰C. Fried lamprey must be eaten immediately after cooking, as it cannot be stored for a long time. If it is not possible to eat the fish immediately, then it is filled with specially prepared jelly to protect it from air.

Before frying, cut the prepared fish into 5 cm pieces, rinse again and place on paper towel. After waiting a little until it dries, roll in flour and fry on both sides in hot oil. Then the marinade is prepared. Without it, fried river lamprey cannot be stored for a long time. How to cook it? There are several ways. The simplest one is when sugar, salt, cloves, pepper and bay leaf pour 500 ml of water and bring to a boil. Then pieces of fried fish are placed there, boiled again, a little vinegar is added and marinated for 2 days.

River lamprey is also cooked in the oven. The recipe is quite simple. Place the fish pieces on a dry baking sheet and place in an oven preheated to at least 180⁰C for half an hour. Place the finished lamprey on a plate. Add a little to the remaining juice formed during cooking. hot water or dry white wine, apple cider vinegar, mix and pour this sauce over the fish. The dish is ready to eat. Bon appetit!