FISHES 525 



Order PLEGTOONATHI. Fam. PETROMYZONTIDJZ. 



SEA LAMPREY. 



Petromyzon marinus, L. 



This Lamprey is comparatively seldom captured in our waters, 

 although in former times it seems to have been far from un- 

 common as a summer visitor to some of our larger rivers — the 

 Eden, for example. It appears to be of very infrequent occur- 

 rence in Morecambe Bay. Mr. W. Duckworth and I were 

 shown a fine Lamprey, June 30, 1891. It had been caught 

 that day near Ulverston, and appeared to be quite a strange 

 fish to the local fishermen. This example measured 25 inches. 

 Eichardson wrote of this fish as found in the Eamont a century 

 ago : ' It is but rarely taken. Three or four in a summer are 

 killed near Pooley Bridge, in the river. Some weigh 7 lbs.' 

 Dr. Heysham gives his experience in the following words : 

 ' Lampreys appear in the Eden and Esk in April and May, are 

 chiefly caught in June when the waters are low. They 

 spawn in both these rivers, and afterwards return to the sea. 

 I eat part of a very fine one this year, the 1 3th of April, which 

 was taken in the Eden the beginning of that month. April 28, 

 I examined a female full of roe. From the immense number of 

 eggs which this contained, they must be astonishingly fruitful. 

 June 28, I examined three, two of which were males and one a 

 female ; they had all spawned ; the liver of the males was 

 much larger than the liver of the females.' Writing of the river 

 Eden in 1803, Warner tells us that it produced 'quantities of 

 excellent lampreys.' 1 Warner referred especially to the neigh- 

 bourhood of Armathwaite Hall. I learn from Mr. H. Leavers 

 that a person named Irons, now residing in the district just 

 named, owns the right of fishing for Lampreys under some 

 old deed or covenant, which, however, does not entitle him to 

 fish for trout or salmon. I have made many inquiries among 

 our professional fish-poachers, and I find that very few of them 

 have ever taken the present species in the course of their water- 

 side researches. 



1 Tour through the Northern Counties of England, vol. ii. p. 80. 



