Lamprey river - a kind of predator parasite, preserved since ancient times

The lamprey of the river belongs to the class of cyclostomes ( Cyclostomata ), a subclass of lampreys ( Petromyzones ). Inhabits the rivers. In Russia it is of commercial importance.

It has an elongated, snake-like body about 40 cm long, covered with a mucous bare skin. Its color is dark gray with a metallic glow. The mouth opening is located in the suction funnel, along the edges of which and in the tongue are the teeth. There are no jaws. On the top of the head there is a nasal unpaired hole. Her eyes are three, two of which are normally developed, and the third perceives only light, because of the absence of the lens.

Breathing is provided by seven pairs of branchial sacs located at the edges of the body and opening outward. The skeleton consists of their cartilage. Floats, bending the body, almost like a snake. Dorsal fins two (less often one), caudal equinus, all supported by cartilaginous rays. Pair fins have no river lamprey. Photo shows it well.

Lamprey river divisions are divided into checkpoints (inhabiting the coastal freshened areas of the seas and spawning in the rivers) and non-flowing (inhabiting rivers).

Lamprey is a kind of predator and parasite. It feeds by sucking to aquatic inhabitants, as a rule, to fish, pulling flesh and blood out of them. She is gluttonous, for one suction cup, which can last many days, is able to draw out of the victim much more of its weight. Many fish after such "communication" die of wounds, because in their blood gets a substance that prevents clotting.

A year before spawning, the lamprey ceases to feed. In her body, there are significant changes: the intestine degrades, the salivary glands die, the dorsal fins merge into one, the female has an anal fin and caviar is formed, and the male has a nipple of sex and milk. The length and weight of both sexes decreases.

The river lamprey multiplies on sections of the river with a rapid current and pebble bottom, at a depth. During the spawning period, the male builds nests by digging holes in the bottom. The female all this time floats above it, touching the belly of his head, as if to encourage. At the very end, it only slightly deepens the fossa. When the construction is completed, the female sucked to the stone near the nest, and the male sucked to it, gradually shifting the sucker towards the head, and twisting its tail around it. The products of the sexual glands are thrown away simultaneously. After spawning, the couple hides among the stones and soon dies.

Of eggs that are more than 20 thousand, after 2 weeks there are larvae, called sandblasters. They are like small yellowish worms. About 4 days they hide between the stones at the bottom of the river, and reaching 6 mm in length, burrow into the silt. About 15 days later, the larvae leave the place of their shelter and swim with the flow, lingering where they can burrow into the mud and feed on the remains of algae. The larval stage lasts about 5 years. After metamorphosis, the stage of an adult begins, during which the lamprey parasitizes on other river inhabitants.

This cycloid fish reacts negatively to light. This is how it was built. Fishermen lower powerful lanterns on both sides of the river in such a way that in the middle there is a dark passage, and in it a trap is set, into which the catch catches.

During this period the river lamprey has excellent taste qualities. And if you consider that there are no bones, bile and intestine in it, then this is an ideal product that you can eat whole. Before cooking it is cleaned of mucus and fried on baking trays, sometimes marinated.