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Mordacia praecox Potter, 1968

Non-parasitic lamprey
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Mordacia praecox
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Petromyzonti (lampreys) > Petromyzontiformes (Lampreys) > Mordaciidae (Southern topeyed lampreys)
Etymology: Mordacia: Etymology not explained, likely derived from mordax (L.), biting, referring to specific name of M. mordax. (See ETYFish);  praecox: Latin for premature, referring to its “precocious nature of sexual development,” wherein newly metamorphosed ammocoetes become sexually mature without first reaching their adult parasitic phase. (See ETYFish).

Issue
No study has specifically described ammocoetes of this species. Based on the general statement in Potter (1968) and Potter et al. (1968) that ammocoetes of M. mordax are indistinguishable from those of M. praecox, the reader is advised to refer to the description of ammocoetes of M. mordax (Ref. 89241).

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; demersal; potamodromous (Ref. 51243). Temperate

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Oceania: known only from the Moruya and Tuross Rivers in southern New South Wales, Australia.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 50.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 44894); common length : 37.5 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 44894)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Adults: 10.2-172 mm TL; body proportions, as percentage of TL: 9.4-12.6 prebranchial length, 8.2-9.9 branchial length, 59.6-64.2 trunk length, 16.5-20.4 tail length, 1.3-1.5 eye length and 5.4-8.4 disc length; no gular pouch develops; urogenital papilla not prominent in mature adults; trunk myomeres, 85-93. Adult dentition: 2 triangular supraoral laminae each with 3 unicuspid teeth, 1 per apex (exceptionally, 4 unicuspid teeth per supraoral lamina); Infraoral lamina, 9-10 unicuspid teeth of various size (these teeth become greatly enlarged with sexual maturation); 5-6 endolaterals on each side; endolateral formula, typically 2-2-3-3-4-3 or 2-2-3-3-4-4 in immature individuals and 1-1-1-1-1 or 1-1-1-1-1-1 in mature individuals; 1 row of anterials; first row of anterials, 2 unicuspid teeth flanked on either side by one bicuspid tooth in immature individuals and 4 unicuspid teeth in mature individuals; 1-2 rows of exolaterals on each side; 1 row of posterials; first row of posterials, 16 posterial plates, the three lateralmost tricuspid and the internal ones bicuspid in immature individuals and 13 unicuspid teeth in mature individuals; transverse lingual lamina w-shaped with numerous unicuspid teeth of various size, the middle apex one being intermediate in size and the two bottom apex ones being largest, while the rest are small; longitudinal lingual laminae hook-shaped each with an undetermined number of unicuspid teeth. Body coloration (live) of mature adults with dark blue dorsal surface, occasionally with a green tinge, ventral surface of males mottled gray and ventral surface of females yellowish; extent of caudal fin pigmentation, 25% to <75%; caudal fin shape, spade-like; oral papillae, 33-48 (Ref. 89241).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabits freshwater streams, a non-parasitic lamprey that spends its entire life cycle in freshwater. Ammocoetes burrow in soft substrates, phase lasts about 3 years; metamorphosis usually occurs between October and November. Presumed to migrate upstream around April, and spawns in late winter or spring (Ref. 44894). Fecundity, 326-675 eggs/female (Ref. 89241).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Allen, G.R., 1989. Freshwater fishes of Australia. T.F.H. Publications, Inc., Neptune City, New Jersey. (Ref. 5259)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Endangered (EN) (A2b; B2ab(v)); Date assessed: 04 February 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.7500   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00102 (0.00046 - 0.00225), b=3.06 (2.88 - 3.24), in cm total length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.4   ±0.8 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Semelparous species, assuming tm (= tmax) > 4).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (44 of 100).