1194 



SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



of bone and fin-rays, probabl)' remains of some Goby. 

 From the island-belt of LuleA Widegken writes" that 

 during summer La.mperns follow tlie shoals of Baltic 

 Herrings and fasten themselves to the fish, gradually 

 devouring them, ('ollett received fi'om Christiania 

 Fjord a Lampern that had attached itself to a bit of 

 Herring with which a long-line had been baited. From 

 Lough Neagh a Lam])ern was sent to Hyxdman'' that 

 had fastened itself to a large Trout. ( )therwise the 

 Lampern lives on minute creatures, such as worms, 

 crustaceans, and the larva- of insects. The Prides, which 

 are toothless and without closed sucking-disk, must 

 naturally confine themselves to the smallest prey and 

 the decomposing matter they may find in the mud or 

 sand. Tiie Lainperns that have ascended the rivers 

 to spawn, with their greatly shrunken intestinal canal, 

 cease to take any nourishment. 



The Lampern displays activity as it wriggles along 

 in the streams like an Eel or a snake, now and then 

 taking a rest by attaching itself. At such times the 

 branchird region may be observed continually expand- 

 ing and contracting, opening and shutting the gill- 

 openings at a breath, about 200 times a minute when 

 the fish is most lively. ( )r it creeps up on jetties, 

 dams, or projecting stones, with head and branchial 

 region above the water, the air expressed from its gills 

 causing a faint bubbling sound. So tenacious is the 

 bite of the Lampern on these occasions that even if 

 the body be cut off the iiead sometimes retains its 

 position. The Lampern and its larva can live for hours 

 or days out of the \vater, and may thus be kept for 

 transmission or consumption as required; but in thunder- 

 storms it often happens that most of the captives die. 



In autumn, from September till Novemlier, the 

 Lampern ascends the rivers from the sea. It is then 

 taken in great quantities, especially near the mouths of 

 the Norrland rivers. At this season the generative or- 

 gans are of fairly advanced development, with eggs 

 measuring ^4 mm. or less; but nut until the spring or 

 early in the summer, when the ova have attained a 

 diameter of 1 mm., does the spawning take place, after 

 the same fasiiion as we have seen above in the case of 

 the Sea Lamprey. The Lamperns that constantly in- 

 habit fresh water do not repair to the spawning-places 



« Landtbr. Akad. Handl. 18:de delen (1858), p. 200. 



* Thomps., Nat. Hist. Irel., vol. TV, p. 26.'). 



•' LiLU., 1. 0., p. 717. 



'' Cf. too Benecke, Finch., Fischer., Fiscli:. 0., W. Preuss., 



' Tliis iiifiiiuscript. wliich was rediscovered by SlEEOLD in iho 



until shortly before the commencement of the opera- 

 tion, in Scandinavia usually during April or May. The 

 ova of the small Lamperns are then about equal in size 

 to those of their larger fellows. Hence the number of the 

 eggs is highlj' variable, from a thousand or so in small 

 individuals to several tens of thousands in large fish. 



AuRELi/ observed the behaviour of small Lamperns 

 at their spawning-places in tlie brooks of Lake Wetter. 

 "They occurred in very shallow water and where there 

 was a brisk current, sometimes 2 to 10 or 2() in com- 

 pany. When alone, tiiey were timid and usually shot 

 oft' witli almost lightning speed down the current if 

 disturbed. But this was not often the case, for they 

 sought one another with passionate eagerness. The 

 males were more slender and cylindrical than the fe- 

 males, which, seen from the sides, were broader. When 

 the males were touched, the milt spirted out through 

 the genital ]japilla to a distance of a }ard or two, and 

 on being touched the female emitted her roe. Their co- 

 lour showed great varial)ility, and some, both male and 

 female, were mottled." Else, according to A. Ml'ller'', 

 the male attaches himself to tlie neck of the female 

 and coils his body round her in a half spiral. The 

 spawning-place is chosen preferably on a pebbly bottom, 

 where the fish hollow out a cavity by wriggling the 

 body, or construct, as we have mentioned of the Sea 

 Lamprey, a shelter for the eggs. After the lapse of 

 about three weeks the larvai are excluded. 



The development, first to Pride and then to Lam- 

 pern, was known even to the Strasburg fisherman Bald- 

 NER, who in the 17th century wrote a Fischhiicli' of the 

 Middle Rhine; but his remarks were forgotten until at- 

 tention was drawn to them by Siebold, after A. Mulleu 

 had succeeded (18.5(>) in watching tlie spawning oi Petro- 

 niyzon Planefi in the Panke, a brook that falls into the 

 Spree at Berlin, and in seeing Prides develop from the 

 deposited eggs. According to MCller the Pride li\es 

 three or four }'ears before its transformation into a- 

 Lam])ern. It buries itself meanwhile in mud nr sand, 

 or dwells in brooks or by the banks of rivers among 

 fallen and decayed leaves. At times the fish raises the 

 forepart of the body and swings it to and fro in the ij 

 water, or wriggles itself entirely free but hastens again '* 

 into concealment. It is so gregarious that in many 



p. 38. 

 Miiseinn of Strasburg, is also cpioted in several passages by Wili-CGHBY. 



