What are lampreys?
Lampreys must be amongst the most rarely seen and poorly understood of all the fish species found in Scottish rivers. Their fossil remains show that they were around long before the dinosaurs and many familiar plant groups. There are three species of lampreys in Scotland: the brook, river and sea lamprey. They all belong to a group of animals called ‘Agnatha’ (meaning ‘without jaws’) which is the most primitive group of all living vertebrate animals. As the name suggests, lampreys lack jaws and instead have very primitive mouthparts surrounded by a large flexible lip that acts as a sucker. This curious feature provides the scientific name for the lamprey family, Petromyzonidae, which literally translates as ‘stone suckers’. Lampreys resemble eels but have several unusual features not seen in most other fish. Instead of bones, they have a skeleton of cartilage. Lampreys also lack scales, and have a single nostril located on the top of the head in front of the eyes. They do not have gill
