Family Petromyzontidae--Lamprey Family

Lampreys have a skeleton made of cartilage and a long, tube-shaped body. They have seven gill openings on each side of the head. These animals lack pectoral and pelvic fins, have only one nostril and no jaws. Some lampreys do not feed as adults while others act as a parasite on fishes, attaching with their mouth and scraping flesh and fluids with the teeth on their tongue and oral disc. There are no scales on the body. A larval lamprey is known as an ammocoete.

Ohio lamprey--Ichthyomyzon bdellium [extirpated]

chestnut lamprey -- Ichthyomyzon castaneus
This parasitic lamprey requires two to three years to complete its larval development. Adults live about 18 months but feed actively for about only five months near the middle of the adult life span. Found in lakes and streams, the adults ascend streams to spawn. Adults may reach 15 inches in length.


northern brook lamprey--Ichthyomyzon fossor [state endangered]
silver lamprey--Ichthyomyzon unicuspis
least brook lamprey--Lampetra aepyptera [state threatened]
American brook lamprey--Lampetra appendix
sea lamprey--Petromyzon marinus [nonnative]