Animal Diversity Web

Ge­o­graphic Range

South­ern brook lam­preys are found in the Mis­sis­sippi River basin, the Ten­nessee River drainage, and Gulf of Mex­ico drainages. They in­habit fresh­wa­ter tem­per­ate wa­ters, mainly small streams dur­ing the lar­val stage and larger streams dur­ing the adult stage. They pre­fer shal­low water and re­quire a river bot­tom of gravel and smaller rocks to at­tach and spawn. ("Ichthy­omy­zon gagei", 2011; "Mis­sis­sippi River Re­source Page", 2011)

• Biogeographic Regions
• nearctic
  • native

Habi­tat

South­ern brook lam­preys tend to live in swift flow­ing water but can also be found in the slower mov­ing water, which is gen­er­ally where the am­mo­coetes live. The Mis­sis­sippi River basin is 3705 km long and has a large range of depth, width, and speed de­pend­ing on the lo­ca­tion. South­ern brook lam­preys typ­i­cally stay in the smaller rivers and trib­u­taries. ("Ichthy­omy­zon gagei", 2011; "Mis­sis­sippi River Re­source Page", 2011)

• Habitat Regions
• temperate
• freshwater

• Aquatic Biomes
• rivers and streams

• Range elevation

  0 to 450 m

  0.00 to 1476.38 ft

• Range depth

  0.9 to 61 m

  2.95 to 200.13 ft

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

South­ern brook lam­preys have an eel-like body shape, a dor­sal fin di­vided into two lobes but is not con­sid­ered two sep­a­rate fins. The mouth is a suck­ing disk filled with bi­cus­pid teeth that dis­tin­guishes it from north­ern brook lam­preys. Adults are a tan­nish or green color on their back and lighter yel­low or white on the stom­ach, the fins are also lighter in color. The lar­val form lacks eyes and in­stead of an oral disc, the mouth is hood-like. ("Ichthy­omy­zon gagei", 2011; Ham­mer­son, 2010; Met­tee, et al., 2008; Rainer, 2010)

• Other Physical Features
• ectothermic
• heterothermic
• bilateral symmetry

• Sexual Dimorphism
• sexes alike

• Range mass

  1.05 to 4.25 g

  0.04 to 0.15 oz

• Average mass

  2.2 g

  0.08 oz

• Range length

  10 to 20 cm

  3.94 to 7.87 in

• Average length

  16 cm

  6.30 in

De­vel­op­ment

South­ern brook lam­preys spend the ma­jor­ity of their lives as am­mo­coete larva that bury them­selves in sandy river bot­toms and feed on bac­te­ria and algae float­ing in the sed­i­ment. The lar­val stage can change de­pend­ing on the cli­mate and sur­round­ing con­di­tions but gen­er­ally ranges any­where from 3 to 4 years. The trans­for­ma­tion stage into an adult oc­curs over a 2 to 3 month pe­riod where it mi­grates to the faster por­tion of the stream. In the spring, the adult at­taches it­self to the gravel bot­tom where it spawns. ("Ichthy­omy­zon gagei", 2011; Beamish and Thomas, 1984; Cochran and Pet­tinelli, 1987; Cochran, 1987)

• Development - Life Cycle
• metamorphosis

Re­pro­duc­tion

South­ern brook lam­preys spawn in a group over a time pe­riod of less than a week. Five to 20 adults may build a nest of rocks, and sev­eral adults are needed com­plete the nests. (Cochran and Pet­tinelli, 1987; Met­tee, et al., 2008)

• Mating System
• polygynandrous (promiscuous)

Within a few days after spawn­ing, the adults die. The eggs hatch about 2 to 3 weeks after fer­til­iza­tion and grow into the lar­val form and stay that way for 3 to 4 years. For 2 to 3 months in the late sum­mer or early fall the lar­vae meta­mor­phose into adults. Fe­males may carry and re­lease any­where from 1000 to 2000 eggs dur­ing the spawn­ing pe­riod and the num­ber of eggs fer­til­ized de­pends on the num­ber of males pre­sent. ("Ichthy­omy­zon gagei", 2011; Beamish and Thomas, 1984; Cochran and Pet­tinelli, 1987; Has­san-Williams and Bon­ner, 2007; Rainer, 2010)

• Key Reproductive Features
• seasonal breeding
• sexual
• fertilization
  • external
• broadcast (group) spawning

• Breeding interval

  Southern brook lampreys breed once in the spring and then die.

• Breeding season

  Southern brook lampreys breed in the spring over a time period less than a week.

• Range number of offspring

  1000 to 2500

• Average number of offspring

  1700

• Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)

  3 to 4 years

• Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)

  3 to 4 years

Spawn­ing south­ern brook lam­preys build nests for the eggs, but the adults die after spawn­ing. ("Ichthy­omy­zon gagei", 2011; Met­tee, et al., 2008)

• Parental Investment
• pre-hatching/birth
  • provisioning
    • male
    • female
  • protecting
    • male
    • female

Lifes­pan/Longevity

South­ern brook lam­preys need ideal con­di­tions to sur­vive dif­fer­ent phases of their life, so they are hard to man­age in cap­tiv­ity. In the wild, once fer­til­ized, the eggs hatch in 2 to 3 weeks and the lam­preys re­main lar­vae for 3 to 4 years. Once they meta­mor­phose into the adult phase, they spawn very fast be­cause they only sur­vive 2 to 26 days. (Beamish and Thomas, 1984; Has­san-Williams and Bon­ner, 2007; Met­tee, et al., 2008; Rainer, 2010)

• Typical lifespan
  Status: wild

  1111 to 1507 days

Be­hav­ior

As adults, south­ern brook lam­preys have just a few days to re­pro­duce and build a nest for their off­spring. They spawn in large groups of 20 to 40 and the adults may work to­gether to build nests. (Cochran and Pet­tinelli, 1987; Cochran, 1987; Met­tee, et al., 2008)

• Key Behaviors
• motile
• migratory

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

The adult form is the only mo­bile form. After meta­mor­pho­sis, adults de­velop the abil­ity to swim. Adults also have fully func­tion­ing eyes. Sight and touch are the two major forms of com­mu­ni­ca­tion be­tween species and in­ter­ac­tions with the en­vi­ron­ment. ("Ichthy­omy­zon gagei", 2011)

• Communication Channels
• visual
• tactile

• Perception Channels
• visual
• tactile

Food Habits

South­ern brook lam­preys are not par­a­sites. The lar­val forms feed on algae and bac­te­ria float­ing near their sta­tion­ary lo­ca­tion in gravel or sand. Adult south­ern brook lam­preys do not feed, and rely on stored en­ergy sources to sur­vive a short time. ("Ichthy­omy­zon gagei", 2011; Has­san-Williams and Bon­ner, 2007; Met­tee, et al., 2008; Rainer, 2010)

• Primary Diet
• herbivore
  • algivore
• detritivore

• Plant Foods
• algae

• Other Foods
• detritus
• microbes

• Foraging Behavior
• filter-feeding

Pre­da­tion

The lar­val form bur­rows into loose gravel or sand so it is hard to find by fish preda­tors. The adult form at­taches it­self onto rocks in swift mov­ing wa­ters where it is also hard to find be­cause of cryp­tic col­oration. Their known preda­tors in­clude north­ern pike (Esox lu­cius), perch (Perca flu­vi­atilis), and Eu­ro­pean chub (Squal­ius cephalus). ("Ichthy­omy­zon gagei", 2011; Ham­mer­son, 2010)

• Anti-predator Adaptations
• cryptic

• Known Predators

  • northern pike (Esox lucius)
  • perch (Perca fluviatilis)
  • European chub (Squalius cephalus)

Ecosys­tem Roles

The lar­val phase is the only phase that eats and fil­ter feeds on nu­tri­ents from algae and bac­te­ria. South­ern brook lam­preys are not preda­tors. ("Ichthy­omy­zon gagei", 2011; Met­tee, et al., 2008; Rainer, 2010)

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

Al­though not a part of the diet for peo­ple in the United States, peo­ple in coun­tries such as Swe­den, Rus­sia and South Korea con­sume lam­preys and some con­sider it a del­i­cacy. South­ern brook lam­preys are sold in bait shops to catch pike, perch and chub. (Has­san-Williams and Bon­ner, 2007; Rainer, 2010)

• Positive Impacts
• food

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

There are no known neg­a­tive eco­nomic ef­fects on hu­mans caused by south­ern brook lam­preys.

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

IUCN Red List cites south­ern brook lam­preys as a species of least con­cern through­out the United States.

• IUCN Red List

  Least Concern

• US Federal List

  No special status

• CITES

  No special status

• State of Michigan List

  No special status

Con­trib­u­tors

ryan olds­berg (au­thor), Min­nesota State Uni­ver­sity, Mankato, Robert Sorensen (ed­i­tor), Min­nesota State Uni­ver­sity, Mankato, Renee Mul­crone (ed­i­tor), Spe­cial Pro­jects, Cather­ine Kent (ed­i­tor), Spe­cial Pro­jects.

Ref­er­ences

2011. "Ichthy­omy­zon gagei" (On-line). Ac­cessed April 21, 2011 at http://​www.​dnr.​state.​mn.​us/​rsg/​profile.​html?​action=elementDetail&​selectedElement=AFBAA01040.

2011. "Mis­sis­sippi River Re­source Page" (On-line). Ac­cessed July 11, 2011 at http://​www.​mississippiriverresource.​com/​River/​RiverFacts.​php.

Beamish, F., E. Thomas. 1984. Meta­mor­pho­sis of the south­ern brook lam­prey, Ichthy­omy­zon gagei. Copeia, 1984 (2): 502-515. Ac­cessed July 11, 2011 at http://​www.​jstor.​org/​stable/​1445205.

Cochran, P. 1987. The south­ern brook lam­prey (Ichthy­omy­zon gagei) in the St. Croix River drainage of Wis­con­sin and Min­nesota. Copeia, 1987/2: 443-446. Ac­cessed July 11, 2011 at http://​www.​jstor.​org/​stable/​1445782.

Cochran, P., T. Pet­tinelli. 1987. "North­ern and south­ern brook lam­preys in Min­nesota" (On-line pdf). Ac­cessed July 11, 2011 at http://​files.​dnr.​state.​mn.​us/​eco/​nongame/​projects/​consgrant_​reports/​1987/​1987_​cochran.​pdf.

Ham­mer­son, G. 2010. "Ichthy­omy­zon gagei" (On-line). Na­ture­Serve Ex­plorer. Ac­cessed July 11, 2011 at http://​www.​natureserve.​org/​explorer/​servlet/​NatureServe?​sourceTemplate=tabular_​report.​wmt&​loadTemplate=species_​RptComprehensive.​wmt&​selectedReport=RptComprehensive.​wmt&​summaryView=tabular_​report.​wmt&​elKey=102239&​paging=home&​save=true&​startIndex=1&​nextStartIndex=1&​reset=false&​offPageSelectedElKey=102239&​offPageSelectedElType=species&​offPageYesNo=true&​post_​processes=&​radiobutton=radiobutton&​selectedIndexes=102239+gage.

Has­san-Williams, C., T. Bon­ner. 2007. "Ichthy­omy­zon gagei" (On-line). Ac­cessed July 11, 2011 at http://​www.​bio.​txstate.​edu/​~tbon­ner/tx­fishes/ichthy­omy­zon%20gagei.​htm.

Met­tee, M., P. O'Neil, J. Pier­son. 2008. "South­ern Brook Lam­prey" (On-line). Fishes of Al­abama and the Mo­bile Basin. Ac­cessed July 11, 2011 at http://​www.​outdooralabama.​com/​fishing/​freshwater/​fish/​other/​lamprey/​so/​.

Rainer, F. 2010. "South­ern brook lam­prey" (On-line). Ac­cessed July 11, 2011 at http://​www.​fishbase.​org/​summary/​speciessummary.​php?​id=2517.