Ichthyomyzon Gagei

Ichthyomyzon Gagei

The Southern Brook Lamprey (Ichthyomyzon gagei) is a lamprey found in the southern United States including Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. It is a jawless fish with a sucking mouth on one end of it (like a leech.) It can appear to be a small eel, since it is rarely longer than 1ft.

Ichthyomyzon gagei, the Southern Brook lamprey, is a non-parasitic fish native to distinctive aquatic habitats in North America which must be protected in order for this species to continue to thrive. This paper incorporates strategies aimed at protecting the distinct microhabitats of I. gagei from human interference, including pollution and habitat degradation. I. gagei inhabits a geographic area stretching from southern Mississippi, Georgia, and Florida along the Gulf Coast west to Oklahoma and Texas and have been reported as far north as Minnesota and Wisconsin (Beamish 1982) (Cochran 2000). I. gagei inhabits specific types of microhabitats at different morphological phases of its life cycle which consists of two distinct stages. During the larval stage, I. gagei are most often found burrowed into fine sandy creek substrate, but are also occasionally found burrowed among dense clusters of leaves or other aquatic vegetation (Beamish 1982). Ammocoetes, or larval stage lampreys, feed on diatoms and other organic particles collected mainly off the substrate (Gallaway 1977). I. gagei larvae typically undergo metamorphosis after 3 years; however, some ammocoetes stay in the larval stage for an additional year (Beamish 1982). Following metamorphosis from the larval stage, the adult stage is reached. During this phase, I. gagei does not eat; rather, it obtains energy from stored fat reserves collected as ammocoetes and also migrates from slow moving streams to faster moving water with slightly larger pebbles as opposed to fine sandy substrate (Gallaway 1977). This fasting behavior continues until spawning during which adult lampreys come together from late April to early May and spawn in habitats consisting of small, shallow ripples with 17-21°C water (Cochran 2000). Although I. gagei populations have been found to be generally stable, due to the strict habitat requirements during each phase of its life cycle, the quality of each of these habitats must be preserved in order to ensure that the specific niche filled by the southern brook lamprey is protected.