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The lake trout plays a vital role in the Lake Superior ecosystem. The lake trout has traditionally been considered an apex predator, which means that it has no predators. The sea lamprey is an aggressive predator by nature, which gives it a competitive advantage in a lake system where it has no predators and its prey lacks defenses against it.
Adults superficially resemble eels in that they have scaleless, [19] elongated bodies, with the largest species, the sea lamprey having a maximum body length of around 1.2 metres (3.9 ft). [6] Lacking paired fins, [20] adult lampreys have one nostril atop the head [21] and seven gill pores on each side of the head. [12]
During the egg stage of the lamprey's life, it is vulnerable to predators that prefer to eat fish eggs. [5] Predation by other fish helps keep lamprey numbers under control. When the lamprey has hatched from its egg into the larvae stage, it is limited to pools or backwater areas with a sand or sandy mud bottom. [6]
Sea lampreys devastated the fishing industry of the Great Lakes. Within 20 years of the lamprey entering the Great Lakes, the harvesting of lake trout was reduced by 98%. Control efforts included lampricides, physical barriers, pheromone alarms and baiting, and trapping. The control has been extremely successful in reducing sea lamprey ...
The lamprey has well-developed eyes, while the hagfish has only primitive eyespots. The hagfish coats itself and carcasses it finds with noxious slime to deter predators, and periodically ties itself into a knot to scrape the slime off. It is the only invertebrate fish and the only animal which has a skull but no vertebral column. [11]
Sea lampreys in the Great Lakes have had their numbers significantly reduced by a lampricide that kills larvae, which hatch in streams, before they can enter the lakes. The lampricide is responsible for reducing the sea lamprey population in the Great Lakes from over 3 million in the 1950s to around 450,000 today, which has potentially rescued ...
The Pacific lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus) is an anadromous parasitic lamprey from the Pacific Coast of North America and Asia in an area called the Pacific Rim. [4] It is a member of the Petromyzontidae family. The Pacific lamprey is also known as the three-tooth lamprey and tridentate lamprey. Ammocoetes held by biologist in the Carmel River
Wounds have been known to penetrate into the body cavity of hosts, though the majority of prey are only scarred and are not fatally wounded. Only 15% of prey are mortally injured from lamprey feedings. Lampreys are one of the leading predators of salmonids, as shown by the high frequency of salmonids with scars (50–80%) found in the lakes. [7]