Chordata · chordates

Sea lamprey

Petromyzon marinus

Petromyzontidae · northern lampreysIUCN: Least Concern
Sea lamprey
Photo: Fernando Losada Rodríguez · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized

A jawless fish that clamps onto other fish with a toothed sucker mouth.

Fun factIt invaded the Great Lakes through shipping canals and devastated lake trout.

Waters
Northeast US, Northwest Atlantic, Northeast Atlantic
Depth zone
Coastal shallows & estuaries, Continental shelf
Diet
Blood & body fluids of fish (parasite)
Size
Up to 1.2 m

Classification

Chordata › Petromyzontida › Petromyzontidae

  1. Kingdom Animalia animals
    • Many-celled organisms that eat other living things for energy (heterotrophs)
    • Cells have no cell walls
    • Most can move at some stage of life
  2. Clade Bilateria bilateral animals
    • Body has a left and right side that mirror each other (bilateral symmetry)
    • Head end with concentrated nerves; three tissue layers
    • Includes about 99% of all living animal species
  3. Clade Deuterostomia deuterostomes
    • In the embryo, the first opening becomes the anus and the mouth forms second
    • Includes echinoderms and chordates
  4. Phylum Chordata chordates
    • At some stage of life: a stiffening rod along the back (notochord)
    • A hollow nerve cord along the back (dorsal)
    • Slits in the throat (pharyngeal slits) and a tail past the anus
  5. Subphylum Vertebrata vertebrates
    • A skull (cranium) protecting a brain
    • Backbone or similar support around the nerve cord
    • Includes fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals
  6. Class Petromyzontida lampreys
    • Lampreys: no jaws and a round sucker-like mouth with rows of teeth
    • Seven gill openings on each side
  7. Family Petromyzontidae northern lampreys
    • Northern lampreys; many adults feed on the blood of fish
  8. Genus Petromyzon
    • Species in the same genus are very close relatives and often look alike.
  9. Species Petromyzon marinus Sea lamprey