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 Ammocoetes. 

 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. 



