Download Species American Brook Lamprey

American brook lamprey (Lampetra appendix)
Timothy Stewart
Identification: buccal
disk; 7 gill apertures;
no paired fins (to 26
cm)
Distribution: northeast
IA (e.g., Volga River);
mid-central IA?
Habitat: riffles/runs over
gravel/sand in streams;
ammocoetes burrow;
adults cling to rocks
Iowa DNR
Minnesota DNR
American brook lamprey (Lampetra appendix)
Diet: organic matter,
microbes (ammocoetes);
adults nonfeeding
Minnesota DNR
Reproduction: 1,000-5,000
eggs in sand depressions
in spring; adults die after
spawning
Conservation status: IA
status “threatened”; cool,
clear water with
gravel/sand critical?;
abundance unknown
American brook lamprey (Lampetra appendix)
Economic/recreational
value: unimportant to
anglers
Ecological importance:
probably unimportant in
IA due to rarity; process
organic matter; eaten by
piscivores
Other: short adult life (fall
to spring – nonfunctional
digestive system); 4-7
years as ammocoetes
References: Lampetra appendix
Iowa Department of Natural Resources. 1994. IowaDNR Fish and Fishing.
Available at http://www.iowadnr.com/fish/iafish/iafish.html. August 2004.
Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Iowa’s threatened and endangered
species. Available at http://www.state.ia.us/dnr/organiza/ppd/tespecies.htm.
August 2004.
Mayhew, J. 1987. Iowa Fish and Fishing. Iowa Department of Natural
Resources, Des Moines, Iowa.
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Fishes of Minnesota. Available at
http://www.gen.umn.edu/research/fish/fishes. August 2004.
Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr. 1991. Freshwater Fishes of North America North of
Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.