THE LAMPREY. 



281 



Romans, very different from ours. Whether 

 theirs be the maraena of the ancients, I will 

 not pretend to say ; but there is nothing more 

 certain than that our lamprey is not. The I 

 Roman lamprey agrees with the ancient fish 

 in being kept in ponds, and considered by the 

 luxurious as a very great delicacy. 



The lamprey, known among us, is differ- 

 ently estimated, according to the season in 

 which it is caught, or the place where it has 

 been fed. Those that leave the sea to deposit 

 their spawn in fresh waters are the best: those 

 that are entirely bred in our rivers, and that 

 have never been at sea, are considered as 

 much inferior to the former. Those that are 

 taken in the months of March, April, or May, 

 just upon their leaving the sea, are reckoned 

 very good ; those that are caught after they 

 have cast their spawn, are found to be flabby, 

 and of little value. Those caught in several 

 of the rivers in Ireland, the people will not 

 venture to touch ; those of the English Severn, 

 are considered as the most delicate of all other 

 fish whatever. 



The lamprey much resembles an eel in its 

 general appearance, but is of a lighter colour, 

 and rather a clumsier make. It differs how- 

 ever in the mouth, which is round, and placed 

 rather obliquely below the end of the nose. It 

 more resembles the mouth of a leech than an 

 eel ; and the animal has a hole on the top of 

 the head through which it spouts water, as in 

 the cetaceous kind. There are seven holes on 

 each side for respiration ; and the fins are 

 formed rather by a lengthening out of the skin, 

 than any set of bones or spines for that pur- 

 pose. As the mouth is formed resembling 

 that of a leech, so it has a property resembling 

 that animal, of sticking close to and sucking 

 any body it is applied to. It is extraordinary 

 the power they have of adhering to stones ; 

 which they do so firmly, as not to be drawn 

 off without some difficulty. We are told of 

 one that weighed but three pounds, and yet 

 it stuck so firmly to a stone of twelve pounds, 

 that it remained suspended at its mouth, from 

 which it was separated with no small difficulty. 

 This amazing power of suction is supposed to 



rocks, and were in consequence called Petromyzon, or 

 Stone-sucker ; while the circular form of the mouth in- 

 duced the name of Cyclostomes, or Round-mouthed 

 Fishes, which was bestowed upon them by M. Dumeril. 



In reference to the respiratory apparatus in the species 

 of this genus, Mr Owen has remarked, that " when the 

 lamprey is firmly attached, as is commonly the case, to 

 foreign bodies by means of its suctorial mouth, it is ob- 

 vious that no water can pass by that aperture from the 

 pharynx to the gills; it is therefore alternately received 

 and expelled by the external apertures. If a lamprey, 

 while so attached to the side of a vessel, be held with 

 one series of apertures out of the water, the respiratory 

 currents are seen to enter by the submerged orifices, 

 and, after traversing the corresponding sacs and the 

 pharynx, to pass through the opposite branchix, ami to 

 be forcibly ejected therefrom by the exposed orifices. 

 The same mode of respiration must take place in the 

 Mixine," (a species of this family to be described imme- 

 diately) " while its head is buried in the flesh of its prey. 

 The cyclostomous fishes thus present an obvious affinity 

 to the Cephalopoda, inasmuch as the branchial currents 

 are independent of the actions of the parts concerned in 

 deglutition." 



The intestinal canal is small, and extends in & straight 

 line along the abdomen to the anal aperture without any 

 convolution. The lampreys are oviparous, spawning 

 late in the spring ; the roe escaping, in both sexes, by a 

 small membranous sheath, which has internally at its 

 base five apertures, one leading upward to the intestine, 

 one to each kidney, and one to each lateral cavity of the 

 abdomen. 



The Marine Lamprey, (see Plate XXII. fig. 5.) 

 which from its mottled appearance was called P. macu- 

 losut, by Artedi, has a very extensive geographical 

 range. It is found in the Mediterranean, and from 

 thence northwards in most of the rivers of Europe as far 

 as Scandinavia, during the spring. Professor Reinhardt 

 includes it among the fishes of Iceland, and our country- 

 man Pennant gives it a place in his Arctic Zoology. 

 From a description and figure in the Natural History of 

 the Fishes of Massachusetts, by Dr Smith of Boston, this 

 fish appears to be common in the rivers of North Amer- 

 ica, attaining a large size in those of the more southern 

 state", liut not exceeding seventeen or twenty inches in 



VOL. II. 



length in a high northern latitude. Dr Mitchell also 

 includes this species among his fishes of New York. It 

 is rather common during spring and summer in some of 

 the rivers on the southern coast of England, particularly 

 the Severn, and is found in smaller numbers in several 

 of the rivers of Scotland and Ireland about the same 

 period of the year. 



In Scotland, the appearance of the lamprey in the 

 fresh water is rather later in the year than in the rivers 

 of the south. Sir VVilliam Jardine says, " They ascend 

 our rivers to breed about the end of June, and remain 

 until the beginning of August. They are not furnished 

 with any elongation of the jaw, afforded to most of our 

 fresh-water fish, to form the receiving furrows at this 

 important season ; but the want is supplied by their 

 sucker-like mouth, by which they individually remove 

 each stone. Their power is immense. Stones of a very 

 large size are transported, and a large furrow is soon 

 formed. The P. marinus remain in pairs, two on each 

 spawning place; and while there employed, retain them- 

 selves affixed by the mouth to a large stone." 



After the spawning season is over, the flesh of the 

 lamprey, like that of other fish, loses for a time its firm- 

 ness and other good qualities, and the weakened fish 

 makes its way back to the sea, to recruit its wasted con- 

 dition. The food of the lamprey consists generally of 

 any soft animal matter; and in the sea it is known to 

 attack other fishes even of large size, by fastening upon 

 them, and with its numerous small' rasp-like teeth eating 

 away the soft parts down to the bone. It is not very 

 often caught while it remains at sea. 



This species usually measures from twenty to twenty- 

 eight inches in length. 



The River Lamprey, or Lampern, as it is called by 

 fishermen for distinction, is a well-known species which 

 abounds in many rivers of England, particularly the 

 Thames, the Severn, and the Dee : it is also abundant 

 in several rivers of Scotland and Ireland. Some authors 

 state that this species, like that last described, visits our 

 rivers in spring, and returns to the sea after spawning ; 

 but the recorded opinions of others, and my own obser- 

 vations, induce me to believe that it generally remains 

 all the year in the fresh water. In the Thames I am 

 certain it is to be obtained every month in the year ; but 

 is considered in the best condition for the table from 



