13 
PETROMYZON. 
they have acquired fufficient ftreng'th, fhe gradually con- 
dufts to the lea. This fpecies is delineated on the an¬ 
nexed Engraving, at fig. 1. a young one, with the mouth 
open, at fig. a. and the lingular conformation of the 
head and mouth, is fhown feparately at fig. 3. from Dr. 
Bloch. 
2. Petromyzon fluviatilis, the river-lamprey : a fingle 
row of teeth placed circularly, is the fpecific charafler ; 
behind this row', there are, below, feven teeth united, 
and two above which fiand apart; the fecond dorfal fin is 
angulate. The head is greenilh; the neck and back black- 
iflj; the fides yellow, the belly blue, thefins violet-colour: 
but thefe colours are lighter or darker according to the 
foil at the bottom of the waters they are b red in. On the 
body are feveral tranfverfe lines of a blackifh colour. 
The lateral line is vifible near the head. The eyes are 
fmall ; pupil black, iris gold-yellow. The fecond dorfal 
fin is confounded with that of the tail, which is not the 
cafe in the preceding fpecies. See the Plate, fig. 4. 
This fpecies, which is ufually lefs than the preceding, 
is found in mod of the rivers of Europe; they are plen¬ 
tiful in Brandenburgh, Pomerania, Silefia, and Pruflia ; 
caught about Cuftrin, Oderburg, Rugenwalde, &c. But 
they are taken in fuel) vaft numbers in the Thames, the 
Severn, and the Dee, that'they conftitute a confiderable 
branch of trade. They are fold to the Dutch, who ufe 
them for bait in the cod-fifnery: befides what are con- 
fumed in England, 450,000 have been exported in a fea- 
fon for this purpofe, at about 40s. per thoufand. They 
are prepared for exportation nearly in the fame manner 
as the fea-lamprey. 
Muralto deferibes a certain infefl which he fays crawls 
into the eyes of the young lamprey, fucks them, and ren¬ 
ders it blind. In the Bober and the Niffe, they catch 
lampreys only from December to April, as they lie quite 
at the bottom of the water in fummer between the ftones. 
In January they take great quantities of them in the 
river Baufker in Courland, by dragging for them under 
the ice; and they are much larger than thofe of other 
rivers : they pack them up in fnow, and fend them long 
journeys; after which, putting them into frefh water, 
they recover and move about as before. They live on 
infefls, worms, fmall fid), and the flefh of dead ones : this 
appetite for dead flefh is common to few' fifties, and affimi- 
lates the genus with the ferpents, from which they are 
not far removed. They fpawn in March and April, lay¬ 
ing their eggs at the mouths of ftreams between ftones; 
and they increafe pretty fa ft. Of the voracious fifli, the 
filurus is its moft formidable enemy. It is fo hardy, that 
it will live feveral dat's out of the water. They are 
caughtjpartly in the ftme manner as eels, but do notreadily 
take a bait; this fifltery is moftly in December. This 
fpecies, as well as the larger kind, is alfo eaten, potted and 
highly feafoned : by fome it is preferred to the fea-lam¬ 
prey. This fpecies is called “nine-eyes” by Muller, and 
“ eight-eyes ” by Kempfer, the refpiratory holes being, 
as before, miftaken for eyes; though this is a double 
miftake, as they are never more than feven in number. 
3. Petromyzon branchialis, the pale lamprey, or lam- 
pern : the mouth in two lobes, or divifions; the body 
simulated, the fecond dorfal fin linear. A fmall fpecies, 
from four to eight inches long. The body is round, an- 
nulated, fharp at the extremities like an earth-worm. 
The mouth is of an elliptical ftiape, the lower part being 
as it were cut oft’, fo forming two lobes which make the 
fpecific charafler.; and there are no teeth in the front of 
the mouth; but Cepede affirms, that in the very back 
part of the mouth near the gullet, five or fix teeth' and a 
femi-circular bone may be difeerned. The eyes are very 
fmall, and veiled by a membrane; fo that Ray and fome 
other writers havecalled it the blind lamprey; while fome, 
more abfurdly ftill, have joined this epithet with that of 
“ nine-eye,” thus we have in Willughby, p. 107. 
eimeophthalmos ceecus, “the blind nine-eyes.” It is faid 
that this fpecies fometimes paftes its fnout under the gill- 
V-OL, XX. No. 1347. 
cover and membrane, and thus adheres to and fucks its 
own gills ; and hence Linnaeus’s name of branchialis. 
The fins are fcarcely a line broad. The back is greenifti, 
the fides are reddifli yellow, and the belly white. It is a 
Britifh fifh, but found alfo in the rivers of Germany and 
Italy. In the river Ifis, and other ftreams near Oxford, 
they are abundant, where, inftead of concealing themfelves, 
they roll in the mud, and are never obferved to adhere to 
the ftones, like the other lampreys. They wifi frequently 
get among the bundles of flax which are put in the rivers 
abroad to foak, and hence in Sweden they are called 
lin-achl, “ flax-eel.” It is feldom ufed as food, but is 
very valuable as a bait, becaufe it looks like a worm, and 
is very tenacious of life ; and it is well known that the 
rapacious kinds bite much more readily at alive fifli than 
at a dead one. Firft deferibed, as an Englifh fpecies, by 
Dr. Plot in his Hi ft-, of Oxfordfliire, and by him called “the 
pride,” and by Willughby and Ray “ the pride of the 
Ifis ;” fo that it was probably efteemed fome years back. 
4. Petromyzon Planeri, Planer’s lamprey: fharp-pointed 
warts at the edges of the mouth ; body annulated and 
worm-fhaped. In the mouth, behind the large rim of 
warts, there is, as in the river-lamprey, a row of teeth 
ftanding apart, and, behind thefe, feveral teeth joined 
together; there are alfo fome on the tongue. The pupil 
of the eye is black, the iris yellow. The two rows of 
round holes are eafy to be feen in this fpecies above and 
below the eyes. The breaft is larger in proportion than 
in the other lampreys; the fins are alfo broader; and 
near the anus is a conical aperture, which is the canal or 
origin of the ovarium. This fpecies is found in the 
ftreams and fmall rivers of Thuringia;’ it was firft deferibed 
by Profeft’or Planer, who fent a fpecimen to Bloch from 
Erfurt, and Bloch named it after his friend. It is of an 
olive-colour, more or lefs (haded with dark fpots.- This 
fifh will live for a quarter of an hour in fpirits of wine, 
but it writhes violently with agony, and the writer of this 
would not be the man to make the experiment; when it 
dies in this liquor, the mouth remains open, but when 
dead in the water the mouth is always found (hut, fo 
there is no doubt but the agony caufes that contortion. 
This fpecies has more recently been obferved in the de¬ 
partment of the Ain, in France. Though it very much 
refembles the preceding fpecies, there are fome differences 
which determine us to regard it as diftinfle. 1. It is 
broader and longer. 2. It has a ftronger mouth, fur- 
niflied with warts and teeth. 1 . The fins are larger and 
ftronger. 4. The eyes are much larger. 
5. Petromyzon ruber, the red lamprey : eyes fmall, 
tail-fin fpear-fhaped, general colour of the fifh red. This 
and the following were added by Cepede, from the com¬ 
munications of M. Noel of Rouen. The prefent fpecies 
is found in the Seine, where the fifherinen call it “the 
red-fifh with feven eyes;” though they occafionally name 
it the “ blind fifh” on account of the fmallnefs of the 
eyes. It greatly refembles the branchialis, but the aper¬ 
ture of the mouth is fmaller than the diameter of that 
part where the gills are contained, the back is darker 
than the fides, and the red tints are peculiarly ftrong 
round the apertures of the gills. 
6. Petrom)zon fanguifuga, the blood-fucker: mouth 
very wide, with a quantity of orange-coloured teeth, 
and nine double teeth at the entrance of the throat. 
This was found in the Seine alfo. It has fome refem- 
blance to the pride, but is fufficiently diftinft from that 
and every other fpecies. It is about eight inches long, 
of a cylindrical (hope; the dorfal fins lie low, incline to 
be adipous, and the fecond reaches almoft to the caudal 
fin. The head is broad ; the eyes are larger in propor¬ 
tion than thofe of the pride, and are fliaded by a continu¬ 
ation of the fkin of the head.; the iris'is between a gold 
and a filver colour. Noel could not difcover the hole at 
the back of the neck, which is common to all tiie fpecies 
hitherto known ; Cepede is of opinion it might have only 
efcaped his obfervation from its minutenefs; otherwife 
E this 
