10 BRITISH FRESHWATER FISHES 



This is a smaller species than the preceding ; 

 the example figured (PI. I. Fig. 2) is a foot long, 

 and the greatest length attained is not more 

 than 16 inches ; as compensation for this, the 

 Lampern is much more abundant than the Sea 

 Lamprey. It is found on the coasts and in the 

 rivers of Europe, Siberia, Kamchatka, and Western 

 North America from Alaska to California, and is 

 plentiful enough in many British and Irish rivers, 

 particularly the Severn, Trent, Ouse, Dee, etc. 



Our knowledge of the life-history of this species 

 is rather unsatisfactory, but it seems that a number 

 of individuals reside permanently in fresh water, 

 whilst the rest, like the Sea Lamprey, spend the 

 greater part of their adult life in the sea and enter 

 the rivers chiefly in order to spawn. The latter 

 enter the rivers in the autumn or winter months, 

 and later on make their way into the smaller 

 streams, from April to June assembling in groups 

 of thirty or forty on shallow fords where the 

 bottom is gravelly ; their breeding habits are 

 precisely similar to those of the Sea Lamprey, 

 except that several couples share in making and 

 using a nest. The larvae cannot be distinguished 

 from those of the Sea Lamprey, and undergo a 

 similar metamorphosis ; a considerable proportion 

 of the young Lamperns make their way to the 

 sea, but in some of our rivers, such as the Trent, 

 and in lakes like Loch Lomond, a number of 

 them remain and spend their whole life in fresh 

 water. 



Thus whilst the Sea Lamprey parallels the Salmon 

 in that both are migratory species, living in the 

 sea and ascending the rivers to spawn, and only 



