304 BRITISH FRESH-WATER FISHES 
The Pride (Petromyzon branchialis) 
The larval form of the pride, or mud-lamprey, was for 
long classed as a separate genus under the name of Ammocetes. 
The adult fish very closely resembles the lampern in appear- 
ance, but it does not reach the same size, seldom exceeding 
eight inches in length, with the thickness of a swanquill, and 
the mouth is not so circular as that of the lampern. The 
general coloration is yellow, dark on the back and lighter on 
the sides. The lip tentacles are longer than in the other 
species, but the outer series of teeth is absent or rudimentary. 
In the arrangement of the other teeth the two species are 
nearly similar. In distribution it is co-extensive with the 
lamprey and lampern, but, unlike those species, it extends 
into the region of the Black and Caspian Seas. When sought 
after by fishermen, it is as bait for sea-fish. The humblest 
in the scale of British fresh-water fishes, the pride also 
approaches most nearly in habits to the annelids, or worms, 
from which, on a superficial observation, it is scarcely to be 
distinguished. It shuns the clear, gravelly shallows beloved 
by lamperns, and seeks out sluggish backwaters and pools, 
where it buries itself in mud, and derives sustenance from 
such animal substances as it can find there. It is believed to 
remain in the larval stage for three or four seasons, during 
which it is a toothless creature, sometimes as much as seven 
inches long, with a peculiarly small head and a transparent 
abdomen. 
