Summary
Steve Coghlan Jr. steadfastly clings to his view of sea lamprey as charismatic critters that build impressive nests and play important roles in healthy stream ecosystems. Unfortunately, the lamprey has an image problem that not even a public relations professional could easily negate.
A lamprey looks like an eel, or, perhaps, a wriggling monster from a science fiction flick. Its mouth is a gaping hole a sucker disk, actually lined with toothlike appendages. It feeds by latching onto passing fish or seals and burrowing into them with its rasping tongue, and slurping away. Lamprey have been blamed for the collapse of the lake trout fishery in the Great Lakes.See the full content of this document
Extract
The Unloved Lamprey
Spend a morning with Coghlan, though, and the University of Maine assistant professor of freshwater fisheries ecology will convince you that you have it all wrong. After a bit, you may even admit that lamprey, while not as glamorous as some other sea-run fish, are intriguing, or impressiv...
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