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.
![Posted Image](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4029/4449415134_26fe121d8e_o.jpg)
![Posted Image](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4035/4448638619_d48cd09378_o.jpg)