Lampreys (sometimes also called lamprey eels) are a family of jawless fish, whose adults are characterized by a toothed, funnel-like sucking mouth. Translated from a mixture of Latin and Greek, lamprey means stone lickers (lambere: to lick, and petra: stone). While lampreys are well known for those species which bore into the flesh of other fish to suck their blood, most species of lamprey are not parasitic and never feed on other fish. In zoolog...
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Lampreys (sometimes also called lamprey eels) are a family of jawless fish, whose adults are characterized by a toothed, funnel-like sucking mouth. Translated from a mixture of Latin and Greek, lamprey means stone lickers (lambere: to lick, and petra: stone). While lampreys are well known for those species which bore into the flesh of other fish to suck their blood, most species of lamprey are not parasitic and never feed on other fish. In zoology, lampreys are sometimes not considered to be true fish because of their distinctive morphology and physiology. The lampreys are the basal group of Vertebrata (hagfishes are actually not vertebrates, but craniates).
Lampreys live mostly in coastal and fresh waters, although some species, (e.g. Geotria australis, Petromyzon marinus, Entosphenus tridentatus) travel significant distances in the open ocean, as evidenced by their lack of reproductive isolation between populations. They are found in most temperate regions except those in Africa....
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