Its range extends from Lapland eastward to Kamchatka and southward to Japan and Korea.

Arctic lampreys exhibit remarkable adaptability through a combination of extensive gene flow[6] among populations, morphobiological flexibility in response to varying environments,[7] and evolutionary conservation of neuropeptide Y receptors,[8] which together support their survival across diverse and changing arctic habitats.

The ammocoetes, as the lamprey larvae are known, are found in muddy freshwater habitats where they burrow in the mud and feed on detritus.

[4] This species is prey for other fish such as inconnu, northern pike, and burbot, and gulls feed on spawning aggregations.

[9] The Arctic lamprey is a commercially important edible fish with fatty flesh.

Threats to the spawning habitat of this species include pollution and the regulation of water flow by damming.