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Adult Lampetra Identification Help

Started by Guest_Uland_* , Mar 20 2010 08:06 PM

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13 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_Uland_*

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Posted 20 March 2010 - 08:06 PM

Recently Blake and I went to Tennessee and sampled several areas. At three locations we found adult lamprey which we photographed.
I have little experience with lamprey and I'm no good at identifying them. Books have been a help but the fishes oral papillae, teeth and coloration have enough variability to have me scratching my head so I'm turning to the forum for help. I presume some of these differences can be attributed to the amount of time since they've morphed into adults but I'm honestly not sure.

All below fish were sampled from small streams and the heads of shallow riffles. All fish were returned after being photographed. At all locations the most obvious Lamprey would be Least Brook Lamprey (based on dot maps within "The Fishes of Tennessee" D. Etnier and W. Starnes)

The first fish came from a small trib of the lower Tennessee river in Hardin county Tennessee.
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#2 Guest_Uland_*

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Posted 20 March 2010 - 08:08 PM

The next fish came from a small-medium trib of the Collins River in Warren county
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#3 Guest_Uland_*

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Posted 20 March 2010 - 08:11 PM

The last two fish came from a different trib of the Collins River in Warren county.
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Thanks in advance for your help guys and gals Posted Image

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#4 Guest_daveneely_*

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Posted 21 March 2010 - 09:20 AM

hey Uland,

Must have been a good trip, sorry I missed it! All of those look like L. aepyptera; there's a lot of variability between pops, but the pigmentation on the caudal fin (or absence thereof) is almost always a pretty diagnostic character.

Dave

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#5 Guest_Uland_*

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Posted 21 March 2010 - 10:18 AM

Thanks Dave. We really did a lots of fish this trip and we had a great time. Unfortuantely we had rain every day and the low light made photos difficult. The high water kept us from some planned locations and the dog gone fish weren't yet in color. On the plus side...we got to see many new fish and seeing lots of Lamprey makes for a good trip every time.

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#6 Guest_farmertodd_*

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Posted 21 March 2010 - 10:29 AM

These photos were worth the whole trip Uland. This really helps show the variation in mouth parts within a species. Lamprey ID is something I still haven't been able to get my head completely around, mainly because my time south of Columbus & Cincinnati OH is limited.

Todd

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#7 Guest_ashtonmj_*

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Posted 21 March 2010 - 04:47 PM

I'll second Dave. Looking nothing like the L. aepytera on the eastern side of the divide, but also as he said, pigmentation or lack there of on the caudal fin is key. Those may be some of the best pictures I've seen of lamprey.

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#8 Guest_Uland_*

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Posted 22 March 2010 - 08:33 AM

Thanks again for the help everyone and thanks for your kind words about the photos.
It's really hard not to smile when you're catching Lamprey. I'm really tempted to hunt down local populations and add them to the photo collection but so many fish and such little time.

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#9 Guest_ashtonmj_*

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Posted 24 March 2010 - 11:10 AM

I don't want to hijack this but I took some least brook lamprey video just the other day. Adult lampreys are something we don't rarely see because of the time of year we sample streams for fish. MBSS You Tube video

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#10 Guest_Brooklamprey_*

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Posted 24 March 2010 - 06:42 PM

It's really hard not to smile when you're catching Lamprey

Yep.....

Love the photos.

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#11 Guest_Gambusia_*

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Posted 24 March 2010 - 09:17 PM

Nice photos

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#12 Guest_jase_*

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Posted 25 March 2010 - 12:16 PM

Can't offer anything in the way of ID help, but really enjoy seeing the photos. Very cool to know these guys are out there.

How large were those specimens?

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#13 Guest_Uland_*

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Posted 25 March 2010 - 02:30 PM

Matt...not really a hijack but if it was, I'd say "best hijack ever" :tongue:

Nice video for sure.

Jase, the photos above are fish about 8" long. Interestingly, when you sample other stretches of creek you'll find larval lamprey (presumably of the same species) at least %30 larger than adults, just as books describe.

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#14 Guest_ashtonmj_*

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Posted 25 March 2010 - 02:42 PM

Just thought I'd show what some other ones look like to emphasize the variability in life. Downloading some still shots right now, but have to resize first.