Ichthyomyzon greeleyi

The mountain brook lamprey or Allegheny brook lamprey (Ichthyomyzon greeleyi) is a lamprey found in parts of the Mississippi river basin, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and in the Cumberland River and Tennessee River. This fish is jawless with a small sucker mouth and a long, eel-like body. It is fairly small, only growing to about 8 in in length. The mountain brook lamprey is a non-parasitic lamprey, meaning that they do not attach themselves to larger species of fish. The mountain brook lamprey is believed to have evolved from the parasitic Ohio lamprey (I. bdellium) and occurs, often in abundance, within many of the tributaries of the Ohio and Tennessee River systems.Vladykov, V.D. & I. Kott. 1979. List of northern hemisphere lampreys (Petromyzonidae) and their distribution. Misc. Spec. Publ. 42, Dept. Fish. Oceans, Ottawa. All non-parasitic lampreys require two distinctly different habitats that are connected by free flowing (free of dams) stretches of streams. Adults are found in clear brooks with fast flowing water and either sand or gravel bottoms. Juveniles or ammocoetes are found in slow moving water buried in soft substrate of medium to large streams.http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Default.aspx?tabid=22726 In the larval stage before metamorphosis, the lampreys feed on detritus and algae, and after they complete metamorphosis, they obtain energy from stored fat reserves. The spawning season for lampreys is from late April to early May.

No narrative description available for this taxon yet.