Petromyzon marinus

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	CEPHALASPIDOMORPHI	PETROMYZONTIFORMES	PETROMYZONTIDAE

Scientific Name:

Petromyzon marinus

Species Authority:

Linnaeus, 1758

Common Name/s:

English

–

Sea Lamprey

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:	Least Concern ver 3.1
Year Published:	2008
Assessor/s:	Freyhof, J. & Kottelat, M.
Reviewer/s:	Bogutskaya, N., & Smith, K. (IUCN Freshwater Biodiversity Unit)
Contributor/s:
Justification: Generally rare, but widespread. Populations in central and western Europe, which had declined because of pollution problems, have been recovering since the 1980s.

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	Both sides of North Atlantic, north to Iceland and along Norwegian coasts to Barents Sea (River Ura, Kola Peninsula). North Sea, Baltic and western and central Mediterranean basins, very rare in Baltic basin, only known to enter Odra, Vistula (Poland, Germany), Western Dvina (Latvia), Narova and Luga (Russia) drainages. Several landlocked populations in North America; none in Europe.
Countries:	Native: Albania; Algeria; Belgium; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Canada; Croatia; Czech Republic; Denmark; Estonia; Faroe Islands; Finland; France; Germany; Gibraltar; Greece; Greenland; Guernsey; Iceland; Ireland; Isle of Man; Italy; Jersey; Latvia; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Monaco; Montenegro; Morocco; Netherlands; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Russian Federation; Saint Pierre and Miquelon; Serbia (Serbia); Slovakia; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Tunisia; United Kingdom; United States
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	Abundant.
Population Trend:	Unknown

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	Habitat: Adults at sea, off-shore; spawns in strong-current habitats of rivers and streams. Ammocoetes in detritus-rich sands or clay sediments. Biology: Anadromous, parasitic. Adults migrate into rivers from autumn to winter. Spawns in couples in April-July, mostly in May and early June, when temperature reaches at least 15°C. Spawning individuals cease their normal daylight avoidance reaction and reproduce on sunny days. Males dig a shallow nest in habitats with strong current. Dies after spawning. Ammocoetes stage lasts 51/2-71/2 years in freshwater. Feeds on diatoms and detritus, metamorphoses at 130-150 mm TL in late summer and migrates to sea. At sea, adults parasite a wide variety of fish species and even whales and other cetaceans. Usually does not kill its hosts, but feeds on small amounts of blood and body fluid for several days on a single host. Adults feed for about 3 years before migrating to spawning grounds. In 1921, the landlocked population of Lake Ontario entered the other Great Lakes of North America, 90 years after the opening of the Welland Canal in 1829. In combination with other factors, it caused a sharp decline of many native species and the extinction of three endemic Coregonidae. Expectedly, recent molecular studies suggest that the European and North American populations might be different species.
Systems:	Freshwater

Habitat and Ecology:

Habitat:
Adults at sea, off-shore; spawns in strong-current habitats of rivers and streams. Ammocoetes in detritus-rich sands or clay sediments.

Biology:
Anadromous, parasitic. Adults migrate into rivers from autumn to winter. Spawns in couples in April-July, mostly in May and early June, when temperature reaches at least 15°C. Spawning individuals cease their normal daylight avoidance reaction and reproduce on sunny days. Males dig a shallow nest in habitats with strong current. Dies after spawning. Ammocoetes stage lasts 51/2-71/2 years in freshwater. Feeds on diatoms and detritus, metamorphoses at 130-150 mm TL in late summer and migrates to sea. At sea, adults parasite a wide variety of fish species and even whales and other cetaceans. Usually does not kill its hosts, but feeds on small amounts of blood and body fluid for several days on a single host. Adults feed for about 3 years before migrating to spawning grounds. In 1921, the landlocked population of Lake Ontario entered the other Great Lakes of North America, 90 years after the opening of the Welland Canal in 1829. In combination with other factors, it caused a sharp decline of many native species and the extinction of three endemic Coregonidae. Expectedly, recent molecular studies suggest that the European and North American populations might be different species.

Systems:

Freshwater

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	No major threats known.

Major Threat(s):

No major threats known.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	No information.

Conservation Actions:

No information.

Citation:	Freyhof, J. & Kottelat, M. 2008. Petromyzon marinus. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 25 May 2013.
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