Brook lamprey

Like all lampreys, these fish lack paired fins and possess a circular sucking disc instead of jaws, which is filled with blunt teeth.

[4] Brook lampreys can be found in small streams and larger rivers throughout northern Europe as well as Portugal, southern France, Italy, Sardinia, the Balkans and the upper reaches of the Volga.

Brook lampreys spawn in spring and summer in shallow areas of streams and sometimes lakes in gravel close to the soft sediment in which they were previously resident.

Both males and females create pits by removing small rocks with their mouths and fanning smaller particles with their tails.

The young lampreys are blind filter feeders, feeding on detritus and other organic matter for three to five years before maturing.

Close-up of a brook lamprey's anterior body.