Took a quick video at work today of some lamprey spawning. We had ~220 redds and ~110 fish in a single tailout.
[video]https://youtu.be/6WPVVOdyZ8U[/video]
These are very cool fish. They're classified as a jawless fish - they have a sucking disc instead instead of a jaw. They suction onto rocks and actively pick them up and move them to dig a circular pit (redd) to lay their eggs. They live in our rivers as ammocetes (a larval form) for up to 17 years before they undergo smoltification and head out to the ocean for a couple years before returning to spawn. They're a parasite in the ocean but don't feed once they return to the rivers.
Photo of their sucking disc-
[video]https://youtu.be/6WPVVOdyZ8U[/video]
These are very cool fish. They're classified as a jawless fish - they have a sucking disc instead instead of a jaw. They suction onto rocks and actively pick them up and move them to dig a circular pit (redd) to lay their eggs. They live in our rivers as ammocetes (a larval form) for up to 17 years before they undergo smoltification and head out to the ocean for a couple years before returning to spawn. They're a parasite in the ocean but don't feed once they return to the rivers.
Photo of their sucking disc-