Pacific Lamprey

About the Pacific Lamprey

The Pacific Lamprey is an ancient, jawless fish often mistaken for an eel due to its long, cylindrical body. Instead of jaws, it possesses a distinctive suction-cup mouth lined with many small, sharp teeth, which it uses to attach to other fish. Its body coloration can vary, but generally features a dark back transitioning to a lighter belly, providing camouflage in both freshwater and marine environments.

Source: FishBase & iNaturalist

Habitat

As an anadromous species, the Pacific Lamprey spends its adult life in marine waters, often in coastal areas of the Pacific Ocean. It migrates upstream into freshwater rivers and streams to spawn, requiring clean gravel beds for reproduction and muddy, sandy bottoms for larval development.

Distribution

Found along the Pacific coastlines of North America, ranging from Alaska down to Baja California, and also across to parts of Asia.

Behaviour

During its ocean phase, the Pacific Lamprey is parasitic, attaching to larger fish and feeding on their blood and bodily fluids. When mature, it undertakes epic upstream migrations in freshwater rivers, often covering significant distances to reach ancestral spawning grounds. Unlike many fish, it does not feed during this freshwater spawning migration, relying solely on stored energy before reproduction and eventual death.

Edibility

While consumed by some indigenous cultures, Pacific Lamprey are not typically targeted for food by recreational anglers due to their unusual appearance and parasitic nature.

Lure suggestion

Pacific Lampreys are not a sport fish and are not typically caught with conventional angling methods like lures, baits, or flies. Anglers might occasionally encounter them attached to other fish, but they are not a target species for recreational fishing.