Body Form or Style: compressiform Swim / Locomotion Style:carangiform Mouth Position: gape-and-suck Citation: http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Lates_calcarifer/
Title: saltwater
Species #:06
Common Name: Petromyzon marinus Scientific Name: Eel sucker Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: none
Order: Petromyzontiformes
Family: Petromyzontidae
Geography / Habitat: Sea lampreys are anadromous, and migration is triggered by changes in water temperature. In general, they prefer shallow coastal areas, though they are found at depths between 0.91 and 4.57 m. Young lampreys are hatched in gravel or rock beds in small, freshwater streams and rivers.
Life Strategy: Little is known about the mating systems of sea lampreys. It is thought that male sea lampreys emit a pheromone composed of bile acids that alerts ovulating females to their presence. This signal may also be related to mating preferences and may be sent over large distances. Male sea lampreys selectively dig holes into river or stream bottoms and fertilize eggs once the female has laid them. This external fertilization allows multiple males to fertilize eggs.
Food / Feed Strategy: Newly hatched larval sea lampreys are freshwater filter-feeders that consume detritus, algae, and other organic material found at river bottoms. Once in a saline environment (or in the Great Lakes), sea lampreys develop parasitic abilities, attach themselves to a fish and ingest their blood and skin.