This short clip of sea lamprey spawning comes from a video taken by Nancy Washburne, the Pioneer of Freshwater Discovery in Michigan. At the end...
Published on by Nancy Washburne, Author, Explorer, Underwater Videographer, Educator and Conservationist at Nanmar International
The sea lamprey—an ancient Atlantic fish that wreaked havoc on the Great Lakes—may be America's first destructive invasive species. Among the most primitive of all vertebrate species, the sea lamprey is a parasitic fish native to the northern and western Atlantic Ocean.
In the spring, sexually mature adult sea lamprey migrate up tributaries to spawn. Spawning groups of American Brook Lampreys were observed on several occasions during the last two weeks in April.
As you can see in this video a pair of male and female sea lamprey build a nest, called a redd, in a gravel stream bottom in a section of flowing water. The female lays tens of thousands of eggs and the male fertilizes them, then having completed this act the sea lamprey dies
By the way, Nancy took this video at the age of 77. She was amazing. We are posting this in Loving Memory.