ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 
89 
DIAGRAM ILLUSTRATING THE REASON FOR LAMPREYS CLOSING THE MOUTH WHILE SWIMMING 
A—Head of a swimming lamprey with mouth open indicating how water helow thei axis of the body would be 
deflected downwards from the mouth, thereby forcing the head up. B—Head of a swimming lamprey with the 
mouth closed indicating how the water both below as well as that above the axis of the body would he parted 
wi.hout any deflecting effect. C—Ventral view of the head of a lamprey with the mouth open. D—Ventral view 
of the head of a lamprey with the mouth closed. 
a passage through weeds and debris they fold 
the suctorial disc together upon itself from side 
to side which makes the entrance portion of the 
animal regularly conic in shape, thus greatly 
reducing hindrance to forward motion. If this 
were not done the concave buccal cavity would 
offer considerable resistance to forward move¬ 
ment and would tend to deflect the head up¬ 
ward. As these animals possess no paired fins 
at all it is obvious that they would encounter 
some difficulty in offsetting this upward de¬ 
flection by means of their sinuous body move¬ 
ments alone. It is clear that bv closing the 
mouth in this manner that a considerable econ¬ 
omy in muscular effort is obtained. 
Lampreys are considered a nuisance by local 
fishermen who know them as lampers,lamper-eels, 
lamp-eels, suck-eels, suckers and so forth. Many 
believe them to be poisonous, some even refusing 
to touch them with the bare hand. Only one 
was located who ever ate them and be claimed 
to do so quite regularly—a Japanese chef with 
fishing proclivities. In contrast to this, in other 
places they are frequently highly esteemed as 
a delicacy and according to accounts, formerly 
at least, great numbers were salted annually in 
New England. About the time the lampreys 
run, river herrings put in their appearance. 
These draw a considerable number of local 
fishermen who take them in gill nets or in dip 
nets by the same operations that serve to catch 
lampreys. Occasionally a shad is caught, al¬ 
though now they are quite scarce. Suckers 
(Catostomus commersonn) and chub suckers 
( Erimt/zon succeta oblongus ) are common and 
much sought for as there is a local dealer wiio 
offers fifteen cents a pound for them ! In addi¬ 
tion to the above, the following fishes are com¬ 
monly taken near the dam: eels, yellow perch, 
car]), pickerel, common and bine-gill sunfish, 
and catfish. The following species according to 
reliable sources are occasionally met with at this 
place: large and small mouthed black bass rain¬ 
bow and brook trout and white perch. Several 
species of minnows are common and form the 
basic diet of many of the larger forms. Large 
snapping turtles are common and, together with 
bull frogs, form a source of some slight revenue 
for certain of the natives energetic enough to 
go after them. 
Taken as a whole this point on the Swimming 
River is an altogether enjoyable place to spend 
a few days. It is quiet and pleasing to the eye, 
but fortunately lacks that scenic beauty which 
draws great crowds whose very presence would 
nullify its simple charm. 
