Arctic lamprey facts for kids
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The Arctic lamprey (Lethenteron camtschaticum) is a unique type of fish. It's also known as the Japanese river lamprey or Japanese lampern. This amazing creature is a species of lamprey, which means it's a jawless fish. It lives in freshwater areas near the coast in the Arctic region. Some Arctic lampreys are anadromous, meaning they spend part of their lives in the ocean before returning to freshwater to lay eggs. It is the most common and widespread lamprey found in the Arctic.
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What Does the Arctic Lamprey Look Like?
This lamprey is usually about 13 to 32 centimeters (5 to 13 inches) long. However, some have been found to be much larger, up to 63 centimeters (25 inches) long and weighing 200 grams (7 ounces). Lampreys that stay in freshwater are usually smaller, rarely growing over 18 centimeters (7 inches).
Their bodies can be brown, gray, or olive green, with a lighter belly. They have two fins on their back, near the tail. The one closer to the tail is bigger. Male lampreys are generally larger than females. Their tail fin has two parts, with the bottom part being longer. This tail fin connects to the fins on their back and underside. Males have a small ridge where their anal fin would be.
Where Do Arctic Lampreys Live?
The Arctic lamprey is found all around the North Pole, which is called a circumpolar species. You can find them from Lapland (in northern Europe) all the way east to Kamchatka (in Russia) and south to Japan and Korea. They also live in the rivers and lakes that flow into the Arctic and Pacific oceans in Alaska and northwestern Canada.
Adult lampreys prefer to live in freshwater near the coast, like rivers and lakes. They like areas with stony or sandy bottoms and often hide among plants in the water.
How Do Arctic Lampreys Behave?
When adult Arctic lampreys are ready to lay eggs, they go to gravel beds in fast-flowing parts of rivers, called riffles. The baby lampreys, called ammocoetes (pronounced: am-oh-SEE-tees), live in muddy freshwater areas. They burrow into the mud and eat tiny bits of dead plants and animals, called detritus.
Most Arctic lampreys are anadromous. This means they live in the ocean for a while and then swim back to freshwater to lay their eggs. However, some groups of lampreys stay in freshwater their whole lives.
Adult Arctic lampreys are usually parasites. They attach themselves to other fish, like salmon, lake trout, and lake whitefish, and feed on them. The smaller lampreys that don't migrate to the ocean are not parasitic. Young lampreys eat small water bugs, algae, and bits of organic material.
Other animals also eat Arctic lampreys. Larger fish like inconnu, northern pike, and burbot hunt them. Gulls often eat lampreys when they gather to lay eggs. Even the eggs and young ammocoetes are food for fish called sculpins.
Why Are Arctic Lampreys Important?
The Arctic lamprey is an important fish because people eat it. Its meat is quite fatty and tasty. Sometimes, they are even raised in aquaculture, which is like farming fish. The young ammocoetes are also used by people as bait to catch other fish.
However, there are some things that can harm the places where lampreys lay their eggs. Pollution can make the water dirty, and dams can change how rivers flow. Even with these challenges, experts at the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) say that the Arctic lamprey is a species of "Least Concern". This means they are not currently in danger of disappearing.
