brook lamprey
Quick Summary
Brook lampreys are small, freshwater lampreys that live in brooks. They are a type of agnathan, which are primitive, jawless vertebrates belonging to the class Agnatha, along with hagfishes.123
Like other lampreys, brook lampreys have an eel-like, scaleless body with well-developed eyes, a single nostril, and seven gill openings on each side. They lack bones, jaws, and paired fins, with their skeleton made of cartilage. Their mouth is a round, sucking aperture with horny teeth.2
Unlike some lampreys that migrate to the sea to become parasitic, brook lampreys spend their entire lives in freshwater and are nonparasitic. They do not feed after becoming adults, instead focusing on reproduction before dying.23
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