Lamprey

[|Lamprey Quiz #1]  [|Lamprey Quiz #2] Ecology Connections

Life Process  __Spawning Phase__: Spring -early summer  Once sea lampreys have reached sexual maturity, they stop feeding and begin to congregate off the mouths of streams and rivers in preparation for spawning.  Lampreys construct crescent-shaped nests of small stones and gravel. The female may lay 30,000 to 100,000 eggs. After spawning, the adults die.

__Larval Phase: __  Most fertilized eggs settle in amongst the gravel of the nest and hatch in a few weeks. The young larvae emerge from the nest and then burrow into the stream's sand and silt bottom. The larvae feed on algae, detritus, and various small organisms.

__Transforming Phase__: Late summer- early fall After three or more years as harmless larvae, they undergo a change called transformation, where they develop eyes and a sucker-like mouth with sharp teeth.

<span style="color: #100f0f; direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed; vertical-align: baseline;">__Parasitic Phase__: <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="color: #100f0f; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Lampreys typically move into the sea to begin a parasitic life, attaching to a fish by their mouths and feeding on the blood and tissues of the host They can spend 12-18 months in the parasitic phase until they are sexually mature enough to reproduce. <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="color: #e46c0a; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%;"> • Diet/Nutrition <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 5.28pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> Larva Phase: <span style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline;">algae, detritus and various small organisms <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 5.28pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> Parasitic Phase: feed off host ( <span style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline;">fish) <span style="color: black; direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 5.28pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;">One lamprey can consume over 40 pounds of fish in its lifetime <span style="color: black; direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 5.28pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;">Spawning phase: No feeding

<span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="color: #ff9933; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%;">Specialized Systems <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%;">• Digestive • Circulatory • Nervous • Excretory • Reproductive • Motile? yes  <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="color: #ff9933; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;">Digestive System <span style="color: black; direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;">Mouth →Pharynx→ Esophagus → Intestines <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%;">• Alimentary canal: runs from mouth to the anus. • No stomach • Intestines: The site of the emulsification, digestion and absorption of nutrients. • The latter portion of the intestine digests bacteria, reabsorbs water and forms feces. • The last section of the intestine narrows to form an exit called the anus. The resulting solid wastes leave the body at this point. <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="color: #ff9f00; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%;">Nervous system <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%;">• Lamprey's have a primitive vertebrate nervous system, meaning the brain structure is fairly simple compared to other vertebrate animals • System consists of the brain and a hollow spinal cord  <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.81in; margin-top: 5.28pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.31in; unicode-bidi: embed;">– Situated above the alimentary canal. – Vertebrate nerve cord and brain contain a cerebrospinal fluid which contains mineral salts and traces of protein and sugar. The fluid helps to support the nervous tissue and probably plays some part in its nutrition. <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;">• The nerve fibers are not covered by the myelin sheath (a fatty insulating layer) found in all higher vertebrates <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.81in; margin-top: 5.28pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.31in; unicode-bidi: embed;">– Therefore nervous conduction is slow. The complex nervous connections found in higher forms are impossible in these early vertebrates. <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.81in; margin-top: 5.28pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.31in; unicode-bidi: embed;">  <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="color: #ffff00; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%;">Circulatory/Respiratory Systems <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%;">• Blood flows through a series of vessels to supply oxygen and nutrients to the body and to remove carbon dioxide and other wastes. <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.81in; margin-top: 5.28pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.31in; unicode-bidi: embed;">– Arteries and arterioles carry blood away from the heart – Veins and venules carry blood back towards the heart – Capillaries are the smallest vessels where the gases are exchanged with the cells of the body <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%;">• A lamprey “breathes” by extracting the oxygen present in the water in which it lives • Water: mouth →pharynx → respiratory tube • Within the respiratory tube are seven gill pouches, each containing the finer feather-like gill lamellae. The gill lamellae increase the surface area of the respiratory structures and contain the small capillary beds that extract oxygen. <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%;">• **Problem**: When a lamprey is feeding and attached to a fish the mouth serves as an attachment function, it is no longer available for use in respiration. <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%;">• **Solution**: Water can be drawn directly into the respiratory tube through the external gill slits. Muscular contractions change the volume of the respiratory tube and thus control the movement of water over the gill lamellae. <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="color: #8df708; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> • Excretory System <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%;">• Kidney: filters out waste from the blood  <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.81in; margin-top: 5.28pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.31in; unicode-bidi: embed;">– Ions, water and other nitrogenous wastes – Responsible for maintaining osmoregulation  <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1.25in; margin-top: 4.56pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%;">• The balance between the salts in the body and the salts in the environment. • Freshwater: kidneys excrete extremely dilute urine to maintain the ionic balance in the body. • Salt water: kidneys excretes a highly concentrated urine. Lampreys rely on the gills to rid the body of excess salt. <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1.25in; margin-top: 4.56pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1.25in; margin-top: 4.56pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="color: #50dc09; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 22px; line-height: 49px;"> • Reproductive System <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 22px; line-height: 33px;">• In late winter, the lamprey's sexual reproductive system grows and their intestines shrink • Therefore, they don't eat in the winter but live off stored fat • Female Reproductive System  <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%;"> • Ecological Niche- Chordata <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%;">• Challenge: Considered a pest   <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%;">• <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 22px; line-height: 33px;"> Evolutionary History • Of the 46,000 known species of vertebrates, lampreys and hagfish are the only surviving jawless vertebrates. • Lampreys are the most “primitive” of the vertebrates, meaning that they are the least altered from the first vertebrates. <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.81in; margin-top: 5.28pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.31in; unicode-bidi: embed;">– They lack jaws, paired pectoral and pelvic fins, and scales. <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;">• “Apart from being the oldest fossil lamprey yet discovered, [these fossils] show that lampreys have been parasitic for at least 360 million years”. - Dr. Bruce Rubidge <span style="color: #ff0085; direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;">Difference between Lamprey and Hangfish <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="color: #ba1c90; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;">Video[|Dirty Jobs - Spit Take | Sea Lamprey Exterminator] <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="direction: ltr; font-size: 190%; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;">Bibliography:  <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> "Blood-sucking Lamprey Is 360 Million Years Old." //Conservation and Environmental Science News//. 25 Oct. 2006. Web. 04 May 2011. <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> Gianaro, Catherine. "Lampreys Show Little Evolutionary Variation over 360 Million Years." //University of Chicago Chronicle: June 11, 2009//. Web. 04 May 2011. <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> "Lamprey (fish) -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia." //Encyclopedia - Britannica Online Encyclopedia//. Web. 04 May 2011. <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> "Nonvertebrate Chordates, Fishes, and Amphibians." Web. 4 May 2011. <Nonvertebrate Chordates, Fishes, and Amphibians>. <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> "Sea Lamprey Life Cycle - Marquette Biological Station." //U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Home//. 14 July 2010. Web. 04 May 2011. <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> "Sea Lampreys." //AllSands.com - Grains of Knowledge//. Web. 04 May 2011. <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;"> "Vertebrate Nervous System." //The Internet Encyclopedia of of Science//. Web. 04 May 2011. <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -48px; unicode-bidi: embed;">
 * <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;">Hagfish have no spinal cord, while lamprey's do
 * <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;">Lamprey can survive in both salt water and in freshwater, while hagfish cannot
 * <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 170%; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 6pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;">While lampreys feed of the living, hagfish feed off of the dead