SKA r.AMl'Kia". 



lis; 



niid ;^i'(i third i)l tlit- len;Lilli dt the hoily. Mouth i|a;id- 

 rilntcnd. (»|)(_Miiiig to the throat very hiri^c, Iiut uceii- 

 ratcly closed hy six irregular and ragged suhcartilagi- 

 nous })rocesses, which meet in the centre. Anterior lip 

 tr;^ls^ erse, convex on its outline, and eniarginate at eacii 

 end, where it unites witii the lateral lips; these latter 

 are wide and convex on their slender margins, luiiting 

 posteriorly lielow the edge of the lower lip, heaving them 

 free above. Length of the snout to the eyes .5 %, and 

 tiic diameter of the eyes 1' ., %, of the lengtli of the body. 

 Eyes distinct, lateral, covered with the common tegu- 

 ments, and placed in a depression o\ir the mai'gin of 

 the lower lip. Nasal orifice lai'ge, and suri'oundcd l)y a 

 i-aiscd ma.rgin; contracted, linear in front, circular be- 

 hind; its distance from the tiji of the snout 8'/,, % of 

 tite length of the body. The branchial furrow occupies 

 ' g of the length of the body, is directed obli(iuely down- 

 wards, and extends to a point al)ove the lower angle of 

 the lateral lijis; the apertures are exceedingl)' small, and 

 appeal- to I)e capable of being closed by their mem- 

 branous edges. Such was Dekay's description of this 

 larva. It is said to be common in the muddy bottom 

 of most streams in the north and west of New York 

 State. JouDAX and Gilbert explained it as a larva of 

 Dekay's Petromyzon appendix: and when Jordan and 

 FoRDiCE combined this nominal species with Pciromyzon 

 nxiriniis, the larva, of course, had to be referred to the 

 latter species. If the explanation is correct, the Sea 

 Lamprev thus undergoes a metamorphosis similar to 

 that of tlie following species, though not in every de- 

 tail. The mouth ai)paratus and the snout are entirely 

 re-formed (see above). The eyes advance further for- 

 ward from the gill-oijcnings. The nostril loses its an- 

 terior narrow part. The anal aperture is removed fur- 

 ther back. The dorsal tin-growth is divided, and its 

 begiiuiing mo\ed more to the front. A s]>ecial caudal 

 fin is develo])ed; l)ut the rudimentary anal fin disappears. 

 Ammoco'fes hirolnr. whicli has also been referred to the 

 present species, was said to resemble the developed Sea 

 Lampi'ey more nearly in the dorsal fins and the position 

 of the anus, though the eves were still indistinct. 



The Sea Lamprey, as we have seen, has an exten- 

 sive geographical range, embracing all the seas of Kuroite. 

 According to Pallas the same species inhaliits the Cas- 

 l)ian Sea and ascends the Volga; but Kes.slei! ranged 

 tins form as a new species, Pefromi/zni) Wafpirri. It 



would also appear uncertain whether we can still rely 

 on 1'allas's statement th;it our Sea Lamprej' also occurs 

 in the Sea of Okhotsk. From "West Africa", howe\'er, 

 according to (tlntheh, the British Museum has received 

 the true I'droiin/.toii mariiiKs; and tiiis Lamprey has 

 perhaps a more congenial habitat in the west of the 

 Atlantic and the east of Xortii .America than in Europe. 

 There it has even been landlocked in several lakes, and 

 lives in these without ever fiiidiTig its way to the sea. 

 In this species we accordingly find the same state of 

 things as annmg the Salmons, and tlie form landlocked 

 in Cayuga Lake (Ithaca, N. Y.) was regarded by W'li.- 

 DEi; as a_ distinct species, I'ctromyzon chirsatus, its dor- 

 sal carina being jiarticularly well develo])ed. 



In Scandinavia the Sea Lamprey is found every- 

 where from the extreme north, though of unfreciuent 

 occurrence. From the Vestraannaej'iar, on the south 

 coast of Iceland, it was remarked b)' Kroyek, from the 

 Fai-oe Islands l)y the elder Keixhardt. In Greenland it 

 is unknown. In Norway, as well as in BohusUln and 

 on the other coasts of SAveden, probably too in Denmark, 

 many years may elapse without the catch of a single 

 specimen being notified to the museums, and as a rule 

 oidy solitary individuals are taken. In the Baltic, where 

 it is so well known on the coast of Blekinge, according 

 to NiLSSON, that it has a special name {SUlapipare) 

 among the fishermen, the species peneti-ates so far that, 

 according to ^Ialjigren, "a fairly large and handsome 

 specimen has been taken in the seine in Gammelstads- 

 vik" (Southern Finland). 



All that is known of the life led by the Sea Lam- 

 prey in salt water is that it swims like the Eel, bending 

 the whole body in sei-pentine movements. Frecpiently 

 it is taken from shore in the Herring-seine; and this 

 would in all probrd>ility not happen so often, unless the 

 LanipreA" were nici\iiig about among the Herrings. Most 

 of its time, however, it no doubt passes attached to 

 stones or fioating objects, such as driftwood or boats, 

 and to the fishes which it selects as its victims. Grx- 

 nerl's (1. c.) states tiiat Sea Lampreys fix themselves in 

 great numbers to the 'bod\- of the Basking Shark and 

 do not leave it until it is dead". The Sea Lamprey also 

 attacks finer fish, surh as Mackerel, Codfish, etc. Gesxek 

 relates\ on the authority- of a Strasburg fisherman, that 

 the Sea Lampre\- attaches itself to Salmon ascending 

 from salt water, and is thus conveyed far up the rivers. 



1038. 



" The same statement, given on tlie nutliority of Govenior (.'hrisiie of Bergen, nppeiirs in Kruyke, 1. c 

 ' De Aqiiatilibus. p. 596. 



