You can sponsor this page

Ichthyomyzon fossor Reighard & Cummins, 1916

Northern brook lamprey
Upload your photos and videos
Pictures | Google image
Image of Ichthyomyzon fossor (Northern brook lamprey)
Ichthyomyzon fossor
Picture by The Native Fish Conservancy

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Petromyzonti (lampreys) > Petromyzontiformes (Lampreys) > Petromyzontidae (Northern lampreys) > Petromyzontinae
Etymology: Ichthyomyzon: ichthys, fish; myzon (Gr.), to suck (borrowed from Petromyzon), i.e., a sucking fish, referring to their suctorial behavior. (See ETYFish);  fossor: Latin for digger, referring to how ammocoetes burrow into silt and sand. (See ETYFish).

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

Freshwater; demersal. Temperate; 14°C - 26°C (Ref. 89241); 50°N - 37°N

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

North America: St. Lawrence River, Quebec, west through Great Lakes and northern Mississippi River basin to Red River (Hudson Bay basin), south Manitoba; localized in Ohio River basin of northwest Pennsylvania, west Virginia, east Kentucky, north and south central Ohio and north Indiana; Missouri River basin.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 13.5  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 17.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5723); common length : 13.4 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 12193); max. reported age: 6 years (Ref. 72462)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Adults: 8.6-16.6 cm TL. Body proportions, as percentage of TL (based on 59 specimens measuring 9.8-15.8 cm TL): prebranchial length, 7.4-9.9; branchial length, 8.7-11.9; trunk length, 46.7-54.6; tail length, 27.7-33.7; eye length, 1.0-2.0; disc length, 3.6-6.4. The urogenital papilla length, as a percentage of branchial length, in 25 spawning males measuring 9.9-14.95 cm TL, 6.7-21.7. Trunk myomeres, 47-58. Dentition: supraoral lamina, 1-4 unicuspid teeth, usually 2; infraoral lamina, 6-11 teeth, usually unicuspid but one may be bicuspid; 4 endolateral teeth on each side; 0-1, strong mode of 0, bicuspid endolaterals in total, the other endolaterals unicuspid; 1-3 rows of anterials; first row of anterials, 3 unicuspid teeth; 1-5 rows of exolaterals on each side, usually 3-4; 2-3 rows of posterials; first row of posterials, 10-11 unicuspid teeth; crest of transverse lingual lamina strongly w-shaped and with either indistinct or about 20 small cusps, the median one not enlarged; longitudinal lingual laminae with 17 cusps each. Marginal membrane vestigial. A small gular pouch is present in both males and females. Velar tentacles, 1-2, smooth. Body coloration (preserved) in adults darker (grayish brown) on the dorsal and upper lateral aspects and lighter (pale gray or silvery white) on the lower lateral and ventral aspects, giving a distinctly bicolored appearance. Lateral line neuromasts unpigmented. Extent of caudal fin pigmentation, 25% to more than 75%. Caudal fin shape, rounded.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Freshwater. Generally associated with warmwater habitats and tolerant of variation in terms of discharge, water temperature, and substrate. Mainly inhabits warmwater, isolated segments of moderate-sized to large streams with summer flows 0.03-31 m3/s, summer water temperatures 14-25.6 ˚C (Ref.89241). Adults inhabit clean, clear gravel riffles and runs of small rivers. Ammocoetes occur in quiet water over sand, silt and debris (Ref.1998). Metamorphosis occurs in late August to September, in Michigan and extends to early October in Québec (Ref. 89241). Non-parasitic, the adults and possibly the larger ammocoetes in the resting stage do not feed (Ref. 1998). Adults live less than 6 months. In Michigan, the spawning period is from 13 May to 6 July, at water temperatures between 12.8-23.3 ˚C, with peak spawning activity in late May to mid-June. In Québec, spawning occurs in May, at water temperatures between 12.8-17.2 °C, peaking at temperatures between 13.3-15.6 °C. Nests are usually in the open and are poorly defined, but have also been found downstream of large stones 18-36 cm in diameter, or on a patch of gravel downstream of a submerged log. The nests are found in streams having 3.5-8 m width, 10-61 cm depth, and 0.1-0.6 m3/s flow. Up to 13 spawning lampreys have been found in a nest. There are reported occurrences in Michigan of communal spawning of Northern Brook Lamprey with Silver Lamprey (Pine River), and of Northern Brook Lamprey with Sea Lamprey (Devils River). Fecundity, 1,200 eggs/female. During spawning, adults preyed upon by Ambloplites rupestris. In the Laurentian Great Lakes Basin, it has been negatively affected by control measures directed towards Petromyzon marinus, except for the chemosterilization of males, which affects only the latter species. Vladykov (1949) reported that in the province of Québec, Canada, fishermen use ammocoetes as bait for sportfishes (Ref. 89241).

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

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea and W.B. Scott, 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. Am. Fish. Soc. Spec. Publ. (20):183 p. (Ref. 3814)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 17 February 2012

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Bait: occasionally
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

Special reports

Download XML

Internet sources

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 = 0.5156   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00107 (0.00040 - 0.00285), b=3.03 (2.81 - 3.25), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.1   ±0.7 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (tm=tmax=6; Fec=1,200).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (10 of 100).