DOCSLIB.ORG

Factsheet Native Short-Headed Lamprey

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Factsheet Native Short-Headed Lamprey NATIVE SPECIES Common Name Short-headed lamprey Scientific Name Mordacia mordax (Richardson, 1846) Photo: Michael Hammer Photo: Michael Identification Small to medium sized, slender and elongated, with a scaleless, eel-like body. Adults are commonly 300–440 mm long in freshwater situations (maximum size ~500 mm). Two low dorsal fins are situated well back on the body near the rounded caudal fin, Photo: Michael Hammer Photo: Michael and paired pectoral and pelvic fins are absent. Lampreys lack jaws; instead adults have a well-developed suctorial oral disc with sharp, the body surface. A large, hood-like upper radially arranged tooth plates. There are two lip overhangs the small mouth. Brownish in large tricuspid teeth on the oral disc above the colour, ammocetes are darker on the dorsal mouth and no fimbriae (fringing filaments) surface and reddish around the gills because surrounding the oral disc. In mature adults, of the underlying blood vessels. They can be the radial toothplates disappear. The eyes of distinguished from ammocetes of the Pouched adults are dorsolateral, and both adults and lamprey by the position of the vent, which is ammocetes have seven small oval gill apertures below a point about halfway along the length on each side of the body behind the head. of the second dorsal fin. Adults are bluish-grey dorsally just before and after their marine phase; during their Biology and Habitat spawning migration they are a duller grey. Most of the adult life is spent at sea or in The larval juvenile life phase (ammocete) is estuaries. Young adults migrate upstream usually less than 140 mm long, worm-like, from the sea in spring and summer to breed lacks eyes and tooth plates, and the dorsal in rivers. The spawning run lasts for about fins are very low, not extending far above a year, before they spawn the following 28 FISHES OF THE MURRAY-DARLING BASIN AN INTRODUCTORY GUIDE 29 ID VALLEY 1 Avoca 2 Border Rivers 3 Broken 4 Campaspe 5 Castlereagh 6 Central Murray 7 Condamine 8 Darling 9 Goulburn 10 Gwydir 11 Kiewa 12 Lachlan 13 Loddon 14 Lower Murray 15 Macquarie 16 Mitta Mitta 17 Murrumbidgee 18 Namoi 19 Ovens 20 Paroo 21 Upper Murray 22 Warrego 23 Wimmera spring, from August–November. During the even Narrandera on the Murrumbidgee), spawning run, individuals are usually active but otherwise found in coastal rivers in Vic, nocturnally, and burrow into the substrate NSW, SA and Tas. In recent times adults are during the day. Females have 3,800–13,400 rarely seen, but formerly they could be seen in small eggs, (0.3–0.5 mm diameter), which are large numbers in the lower Murray on their deposited in a shallow nest (small depression) spawning run at migration barriers such as in the substrate, often in shallow, relatively weirs. There are recent records of this species fast water. Adults die shortly after spawning. from below the Goolwa Barrage. Ammocetes Ammocetes are sedentary and live in slow- are reasonably common in suitable silty flowing streams, burrowing in silt or mud, for habitats. about three years before metamorphosing (at around 100–140 mm length) and migrating Potential Threats down to the sea, usually in spring. Barriers to fish movement can interfere with The ammocetes are toothless, feeding on spawning migrations, although the species can algae, detritus and micro-organisms filtered climb wet vertical surfaces. from the water. After metamorphosis to General References adulthood, they become parasitic on other fish, rasping a hole in the side and feeding on Allen et al. 2002; Cadwallader & Backhouse blood and/or muscle. Adults cease feeding 1983; Gilligan 2005a,b; Hughes & Potter prior to their spawning migration. 1968; Koehn & O’Connor 1990; Potter 1970, 1996a; Wedderburn & Hammer 2003. Distribution and Abundance Generally restricted to the lower to mid Murray River in the Basin (occasionally recorded as far upstream as Yarrawonga and 28 FISHES OF THE MURRAY-DARLING BASIN AN INTRODUCTORY GUIDE 29 Published by the Murray-Darling Basin Commission Postal address: GPO Box 409, Canberra ACT 2601 Office location: Level 3, 51 Allara Street, Canberra City ACT Telephone: (02) 6279 0100, international + 61 2 6279 0100 Facsimile: (02) 6248 8053, international + 61 2 6248 8053 Email: [email protected] Internet: http://www.mdbc.gov.au For further information contact the Murray-Darling Basin Commission office on (02) 6279 0100 This fish fact sheet is an extract derived from the report: Lintermans, M. 2007, Fishes of the Murray-Darling Basin: An introductory guide. MDBC Publication No. 10/07 ISBN 1 921257 20 2 © Murray-Darling Basin Commission 2007 This work is copyright. Graphical and textual information in the work (with the exception of photographs, artwork and the MDBC logo) may be stored, retrieved and reproduced in whole or in part provided the information is not sold or used for commercial benefit and its source (Fishes of the Murray-Darling Basin) is acknowledged. Such reproduction includes fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968. Reproduction for other purposes is prohibited without the permission of the Murray- Darling Basin Commission or the individual photographers and artists with whom copyright applies. To extent permitted by law, the copyright holders (including its employees and consultants) exclude all liability to any person for any consequences, including but not limited to all losses, damages, costs, expenses and any other compensation, arising directly or indirectly from using this report (in part or whole) and any information or material contained in it. ii FISHES OF THE MURRAY-DARLING BASIN.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Comparison of the Ammocoete and Macrophthalmia Stages of Mordacia Mordax and Geotria Australis (Petromyzonidae)
    A Comparison of the Ammocoete and Macrophthalmia Stages of Mordacia mordax and Geotria australis (Petromyzonidae) R. STRAHAN 1 VERY LITTLE IS KNOWN of the biology of dacia are the late developmental stages of the lampreys of the Southern Hemisphere. On Geotria, but this is unlikely since the dentition the available evidence (Strahan, 1959 ), there of M ordacia is very characteristic, it being the appears to be only one species of Geotria, C. only lamprey with two supraoral laminae on the australis Gray 1851, extending from Western buccal funnel. Certainly the situation cannot be Australia eastwards to the Falkland Islands. Al­ clarified until more is known of the development most nothing is known of its distribution while of Mordacia. in the marine stage of its life history. The Maskell (1932) stated that the ammocoete northern limits of its distribution in estuaries of Mordacia has one intestinal (exocrine pan­ and rivers appear to be 32 0 S. on the west coast creatic ) diverticulum on the left side of the of Australia and 3r S. on the east coast of Aus­ oesophagus, and can thereby be distinguished tralia and the North Island of New Zealand; from the ammocoete of Geotria, which has both 40 0 S. on the west coast of South America and right and left diverticula, and from the ammo ­ 35 0 S. on the east coast. It extends southwards to coete of Petromyzon, which has no diverticula. Tasmania, the South Island of New Zealand, and However, the question arises: How did Maskell Tierra del Fuego. know that the ammocoetes with only one diver­ .Three species of Mordacia have been de­ ticulum were referable to Mordacia? The only scribed.
    [Show full text]
  • Bill Beamish's Contributions to Lamprey Research and Recent Advances in the Field
    Guelph Ichthyology Reviews, vol. 7 (2006) 1 Bill Beamish’s Contributions to Lamprey Research and Recent Advances in the Field This paper is based on an oral presentation given at a symposium honouring Bill Beamish and his contributions to fisheries science at the Canadian Conference for Fisheries Research, in Windsor, Ontario on January 7, 2005 Margaret F. Docker Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, N9B 3P4, Canada Current Address: Department of Zoology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, R3T 2N2, Canada (e-mail: [email protected]) Key Words: review, sex determination, statoliths, pheromones, reproductive endocrinology, phylogeny Guelph Ichthyology Reviews, vol. 7 (2006) 2 Synopsis Since his first lamprey paper in 1972, Bill Beamish has published more than 50 papers on numerous aspects of lamprey biology, reporting on several native lamprey species as well as the Great Lakes sea lamprey. Bill and his colleagues have contributed to our knowledge of the basic biology of larval lampreys (e.g., abundance, habitat, feeding, growth, and gonadogenesis), helped refine techniques to determine age in larvae (using statoliths, structures analogous to the teleost otolith), and studied the process of metamorphosis and the feeding and bioenergetics of juvenile (parasitic) lampreys. Current research continues to build on Bill’s contributions, and also makes many advances in novel directions. This exciting current research includes: the use of high-resolution ultrasound to study gonadogenesis and evaluate sex ratio in live larval lampreys; the elucidation of some of the exogenous and endogenous triggers of metamorphosis; examination of the neuroendocrine control of reproduction and the role of unconventional sex steroids in lampreys; the discovery of migratory and sex pheromones and their potential use in sea lamprey control; the use of molecular markers to study lamprey mating systems and phylogeny; and the renewed interest in the conservation of native lampreys.
    [Show full text]
  • Petromyzontidae) in Europe
    Genetic and morphological diversity of the genus Lampetra (Petromyzontidae) in Europe Catarina Sofia Pereira Mateus Tese apresentada à Universidade de Évora para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Biologia ORIENTADORES: Professor Doutor Pedro Raposo de Almeida Doutora Maria Judite Alves ÉVORA, DEZEMBRO DE 2013 INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGAÇÃO E FORMAÇÃO AVANÇADA Genetic and morphological diversity of the genus Lampetra (Petromyzontidae) in Europe Catarina Sofia Pereira Mateus Tese apresentada à Universidade de Évora para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Biologia ORIENTADORES: Professor Doutor Pedro Raposo de Almeida Doutora Maria Judite Alves ÉVORA, DEZEMBRO DE 2013 Aos meus pais Acknowledgements Agradecimentos No final desta etapa gostaria de dedicar algumas palavras de agradecimento a várias pessoas e instituições que de alguma forma contribuíram para a realização desta Dissertação. Estou especialmente grata à minha família pelo apoio e carinho e aos meus orientadores pelo encorajamento, amizade e conhecimento partilhado. Em primeiro lugar quero agradecer aos co-orientadores do meu Doutoramento Professor Pedro Raposo de Almeida e Doutora Maria Judite Alves. Ao Professor Pedro Raposo de Almeida pela sua dedicação, entusiasmo, e postura profissional, sempre descontraída e otimista, que foram fundamentais para chegar ao final desta etapa. Agradeço a confiança que sempre depositou em mim e o facto de me ter inserido no mundo da ciência, e em particular no fascinante mundo das lampreias. A sua exigência científica e o rigor que incute a quem consigo trabalha foram essenciais para o meu crescimento científico. Obrigada por colocar os seus estudantes sempre em primeiro lugar. À Doutora Maria Judite Alves pelo seu incansável apoio, pela enorme dedicação a este projeto, pelas discussões de ideias e confiança depositada no meu trabalho.
    [Show full text]
  • Novel Relationships Among Lampreys (Petromyzontiformes) Revealed by a Taxonomically Comprehensive Molecular Data Set
    American Fisheries Society Symposium 72:000–000, 2009 © 2009 by the American Fisheries Society Novel Relationships among Lampreys (Petromyzontiformes) Revealed by a Taxonomically Comprehensive Molecular Data Set NICHOLAS J. LA N G * Division of Fishes, Department of Zoology, Field Museum of Natural History 1400 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60605, USA KEVI N J. ROE Natural Resource Ecology and Management, 339 Science II, Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 50011, USA CLAUDE B. RE N AUD Research Services Division, Canadian Museum of Nature Post Office Box 3443, Station D, Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 6P4, Canada HOWA R D S. GILL School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Murdoch University Perth, Western Australia 6150, Australia IA N C. POTTE R School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Murdoch University Perth, Western Australia 6150, Australia JÖ R G FR EYHO F Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany ALEXA N DE R M. NASE K A Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences Universitetskaya nab. 1, St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia PHILIP COCH R A N Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota 700 Terrace Heights #10, Winona, Minnesota 55987, USA HECTO R ES P I N OSA PÉ R EZ Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, D.F., México EVELY N M. HA B IT Unidad de Sistemas Acuáticos, Centro de Ciencias Ambientales, EULA-Chile Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 160-C, Concepción, Chile * Corresponding author: [email protected] 1 2 lang et al. BE rn A R D R. KUHA J DA Department of Biological Sciences, Box 870345, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487, USA DAVID A.
    [Show full text]
  • Redacted for Privacy Carl E
    AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF TING TIEN KAN for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (Name of student) (Degree) in Fisheries presented on /1,13 /97C- (Major Department) (nate) Title:SYSTEMATICS, VARIATION, DISTRIBUTION, AND BIOLOGY OF LAMPREYS OF THE GENUS LAMPETRA IN OREGON Abstract approved: Redacted for privacy Carl E. Bond Based on the number of velar tentacles and the form of longi- tudinal lingual laminae found in Lampetra (Entosphenus) t. tridentata and its closely related forms, the taxon Entosphenu.s should not be considered as a genus as commonly adopted, but, along with the taxa Lethenteron and Lamp, should be regarded as a subgenus of the genus Lampetra.The genus Lampetra is distinct for various rea- sons, including particularly the character that no cusps are present in the area distal to the lateral circumorals. Six nominal species, belonging to the subgenera Entosphenus and Lampetra, have been known to occur in four of the seven major drainage systems of Oregon. The anadromous L. (E. ) t.tridentata, is widespread in the Columbia River and Coastal drainage systems, occurring in most streams with access to the ocean regardless of distance to the ocean, as long as suitable spawning grounds and ammocoete habitats are present. Morphometrics and dentitional features vary little over its geographical range.The number of trunk myomeres and the adult body size vary appreciably so that two categories of regional forms, coastal and inland, may be recognized.The coastal forms are gener- ally smaller and have fewer trunk myomeres compared
    [Show full text]
  • Early Evolution of Multifocal Optics for Well-Focused Colour Vision in Vertebrates
    1559 The Journal of Experimental Biology 211, 1559-1564 Published by The Company of Biologists 2008 doi:10.1242/jeb.016048 Early evolution of multifocal optics for well-focused colour vision in vertebrates O. S. E. Gustafsson1,*, S. P. Collin2 and R. H. H. Kröger1 1Department of Cell and Organism Biology, Lund University, Helgonavägen 3, 223 62 Lund, Sweden and 2Marine Neurobiology Laboratory, School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Queensland, Australia *Author for correspondence (e-mail: [email protected]) Accepted 10 March 2008 SUMMARY Jawless fishes (Agnatha; lampreys and hagfishes) most closely resemble the earliest stage in vertebrate evolution and lamprey- like animals already existed in the Lower Cambrian [about 540 million years ago (MYA)]. Agnathans are thought to have separated from the main vertebrate lineage at least 500 MYA. Hagfishes have primitive eyes, but the eyes of adult lampreys are well- developed. The southern hemisphere lamprey, Geotria australis, possesses five types of opsin genes, three of which are clearly orthologous to the opsin genes of jawed vertebrates. This suggests that the last common ancestor of all vertebrate lineages possessed a complex colour vision system. In the eyes of many bony fishes and tetrapods, well-focused colour images are created by multifocal crystalline lenses that compensate for longitudinal chromatic aberration. To trace the evolutionary origins of multifocal lenses, we studied the optical properties of the lenses in four species of lamprey (Geotria australis, Mordacia praecox, Lampetra fluviatilis and Petromyzon marinus), with representatives from all three of the extant lamprey families. Multifocal lenses are present in all lampreys studied.
    [Show full text]
  • 90860 Action Plan for South Australian Freshwater Fishes Revised Sep 2010 V3.Indd
    Section 1 Introduction The ‘Action Plan for South Australian Freshwater Fishes’ aims to provide information that will help managers and the community alike to better understand the diversity of South Australian freshwater fishes and provide specific information for the protection of threatened species and their habitats. This involves raising awareness of the sorts of things required to improve the status of South Australia’s freshwater fish at broad and local scales, to spark ideas of how important actions might be achieved, and importantly identify opportunities for groups or individuals to get involved and make a difference. The overall objective is to improve the collective status of freshwater fishes in South Australia. This should involve documenting a positive response to actions combined with improved information to enable a downgrading in species status. Specific objectives are to: • Raise awareness of the presence and plight of freshwater fishes and the need for action. • Comment on the current state of knowledge and information gaps for threatened fish species. • Identify priority actions for improving the status of freshwater fishes in South Australia. • Provide information and options for stakeholders on how they can contribute to conservation. The targeted users or stakeholders for this document are broad and includes organisations and individuals involved with threatened species, threatened ecological communities, alien species, natural resource management (especially concerning water), habitat protection, and restoration. These stakeholders will be involved in different ways ranging from being decision makers, providing funding and being involved in implementing or undertaking actions (the doers). They will have diverse affiliations ranging from government departments (federal and State), local government, research organisations, educators, funding bodies (government and private sector), non government organisations, community groups and concerned individuals on the land, in business or involved with fish at some level.
    [Show full text]
  • Lampreys of the World
    ISSN 1020-8682 FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes No. 5 LAMPREYS OF THE WORLD AN ANNOTATED AND ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE OF LAMPREY SPECIES KNOWN TO DATE FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes No. 5 FIR/Cat. 5 LAMPREYS OF THE WORLD AN ANNOTATED AND ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE OF LAMPREY SPECIES KNOWN TO DATE by Claude B. Renaud Canadian Museum of Nature Ottawa, Canada FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Rome, 2011 ii FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes No. 5 The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. The views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of FAO. ISBN 978-92-5-106928-8 All rights reserved. FAO encourages reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product. Non-commercial uses will be authorized free of charge, upon request. Reproduction for resale or other commercial purposes, including educational purposes, may incur fees. Applications for permission to reproduce or disseminate FAO copyright materials, and all queries concerning rights and licences, should be addressed by e-mail to [email protected] or to the Chief, Publishing Policy and Support Branch, Office of Knowledge Exchange, Research and Extension, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy.
    [Show full text]
  • National Recovery Plan for the Dwarf Galaxias Galaxiella Pusilla
    National Recovery Plan for the Dwarf Galaxias Galaxiella pusilla Stephen Saddlier, Jean Jackson and Michael Hammer Prepared by Stephen Saddlier (Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria), Jean Jackson (Inland Fisheries Service, Tasmania) and Michael Hammer (University of Adelaide, South Australia). Published by the Victorian Government Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) Melbourne, February 2010. © State of Victoria Department of Sustainability and Environment 2010 This publication is copyright. No part may be reproduced by any process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. Authorised by the Victorian Government, 8 Nicholson Street, East Melbourne. ISBN 1 74152 363 X This is a Recovery Plan prepared under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, with the assistance of funding provided by the Australian Government. This Recovery Plan has been developed with the involvement and cooperation of a range of stakeholders, but individual stakeholders have not necessarily committed to undertaking specific actions. The attainment of objectives and the provision of funds may be subject to budgetary and other constraints affecting the parties involved. Proposed actions may be subject to modification over the life of the plan due to changes in knowledge. Disclaimer This publication may be of assistance to you but the State of Victoria and its employees do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence that may arise from you relying on any information in this publication. An electronic version of this document is available on the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts website www.environment.gov.au For more information contact the DSE Customer Service Centre 136 186 Citation: Saddlier, S., Jackson, J.
    [Show full text]
  • Global Nutrient Transport in a World of Giants SPECIAL FEATURE
    Global nutrient transport in a world of giants SPECIAL FEATURE Christopher E. Doughtya,1, Joe Romanb,c, Søren Faurbyd, Adam Wolfe, Alifa Haquea, Elisabeth S. Bakkerf, Yadvinder Malhia, John B. Dunning Jr.g, and Jens-Christian Svenningd aEnvironmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QY, United Kingdom; bOrganismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138; cGund Institute for Ecological Economics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05445; dSection of Ecoinformatics & Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark; eDepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544; fDepartment of Aquatic Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands; and gDepartment of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907 Edited by John W. Terborgh, Duke University, Durham, NC, and approved August 6, 2015 (received for review March 14, 2015) The past was a world of giants, with abundant whales in the sea and weathering of primary rock. These nutrients are then lost to the large animals roaming the land. However, that world came to an end hydrosphere by leaching or runoff or to the atmosphere by dust, following massive late-Quaternary megafauna extinctions on land and fire, or volatilization. These nutrients slowly make their way to the widespread population reductions in great whale populations over the oceans, where they are buried at the bottom of the sea. Eventually, past few centuries. These losses are likely to have had important con- these sediments are subducted, transformed to metamorphic or sequences for broad-scale nutrient cycling, because recent literature igneous rock, and uplifted to be weathered once again.
    [Show full text]
  • Action Plan for South Australian Freshwater Fishes 2009
    Section 2 Species Recovery Outlines A conservation status reflects a level of extinction risk for a species. In this document, extinction risk relates to the continued survival of the species in South Australia. Status is thus assigned independently of social, management and political implications (status can however, influence these and other factors depending on how such a list is used). The current list of threatened freshwater fishes was instigated by a need to raise awareness of the overall plight of freshwater native fish in South Australia and to enable comparisons across vertebrate groups of the State. The list also provides the basis for developing Recovery Outlines for threatened species which document: • Conservation status – includes South Australia Action Plan status (criteria are in brackets and match Appendix 4), Protected species (Fisheries Management Act 2007), and other national and interstate listings. • Taxonomy and identification – includes a description of the species and key characters (see Figure 5) for distinguishing between similar species (as a guide only). • Former distribution – description of historic records (i.e. prior to 1990). Note that the historic and current distribution of many species has not been specifically assessed. • Current distribution – records after 1990 summarising documented declines and also listing any habitats where the species may be expected to occur. • Brief overview of species biology and habitat to outline the level of available information for aspects useful for management. • An assessment of potential reasons for species decline and threats. • Land tenure and conservation. • Recovery objectives. • Details of conservation actions already initiated. • Required conservation actions to help meet recovery objectives. • A list of organisations responsible for conservation of the species.
    [Show full text]
  • Ecology of the New Zealand Lamprey (Geotria Australis)
    Ecology of the New Zealand Lamprey (Geotria australis) A literature review SEPTEMBER 2008 Ecology of the New Zealand Lamprey (Geotria australis) A LITERATURE REVIEW Author: Dr Alex James F.I.S.H. Aquatic Ecology Published by Department of Conservatiion Wanganui Conservancy Private Bag 3016 Wanganui, New Zealand Ecology of the New Zealand Lamprey (Geotria australis) - A literature review Cover photo: Adult New Zealand Lamprey. Photo: Stephen Moore. © Copyright September 2008, New Zealand Department of Conservation ISBN 978-0-478-14542-7 ISSN 1179-1659 Te Tai Hauauru - Whanganui Conservancy Fauna Series 2008/1 Ecology of the New Zealand Lamprey (Geotria australis) - A literature review Table OF COntents Executive summary 4 Introduction 5 Systematics and taxonomy 7 Ecology 8 Lifecycle 8 Adult habitat and nutrition 8 Adult upstream spawning migration 9 Spawning 11 Larval habitat and nutrition 12 Metamorphosis 13 Distribution in New Zealand 15 Cultural significance 17 Conservation 19 Knowledge gaps 21 References 22 Appendix (sources of information) 24 Sources of information on the ecology of New Zealand lamprey 24 Journal papers 24 Books, book chapters and reports 24 Websites readily accessible to the general public. 25 Ecology of the New Zealand Lamprey (Geotria australis) - A literature review Executive summary 1. Lampreys along with hagfish are the only living representatives of the most primitive vertebrates, the jawless fishes. New Zealand has one species of lamprey, Geotria australis which is also found in Australia and southern South America. They are widely distributed in New Zealand. 2. Adults spend several years at sea feeding parasitically on other fish. They enter freshwater and spend up to 16 months reaching sexual maturity and migrating upstream to small, shady, hard-bottomed streams where they spawn and die.
    [Show full text]