Who thought it was a scene from another horror movie? It seemed to me for a moment…. And in general, I did not imagine that such a passion exists, I only knew about Kylie Minogue and that's it.
Lampreys are a parasitic species of marine animals. Lamprey (Lamprey) literally translates as "licking stone", because of its ability to stick to hard surfaces. Although other types of lampreys are well known, they live on the body of other fish, sucking blood from them.
Lampreys live in temperate waters throughout the world's oceans, found mainly in coastal sea waters or freshwater rivers. However, it is not uncommon for these animals to travel far out to sea. This explains the lack of reproductive isolation of the Australian and New Zealand lampreys.
Outwardly, lampreys are similar to sea or freshwater eels, which is why they are sometimes called "lamprey eel", which means "lamprey-eel". The body of the animal is long and narrow at the sides. Lampreys grow up to 1 m in length. They lack paired fins on the body, large eyes on the head and 7 gill openings on the sides stand out.
Zoologists do not consider lampreys to be classical fish because of their unique morphology and physiology. Thus, the cartilaginous skeleton of lampreys suggests that lamprey is a relative of all modern jaw-toothed vertebrates. They are predators and, attacking their prey, stick to the body of the victim, using their teeth to bite through the skin and get to the blood.
Promotional video:
Lamprey is an aquatic vertebrate of the Cyclostome class with a long, hairless serpentine body. "Not an animal anymore, not a fish yet." - the fishermen say about her.
Leads a passing lifestyle. At the end of summer it gathers in flocks near river mouths. The run to the rivers takes place in November-December. It rises upstream for many tens (in large rivers - for hundreds) kilometers, mainly at night. During migration, the appearance of the lamprey undergoes certain changes (the body is shortened, and the fins, on the contrary, increase), similar to the salmon breeding alongside. She stops feeding, so the intestines degenerate. Winters in fresh water, spawns in May-June. Eggs are deposited in pits; during spawning, several males are attached with oral suckers to the female's head. Fertility is 70-100 thousand eggs. After spawning, the Pacific lamprey dies. From the laid eggs, larvae, called sandworms, hatch, which bear little resemblance to adults. They live in the riverburied in sand or silt (hence the name) and eating organic debris. Having reached the age of four, the sandworms, by metamorphosis, transform into adult lampreys and, in the fifth year, slide into the sea, where they lead a parasitic lifestyle, feeding on the blood and muscles of fish.
Cases of sea lampreys attacking even whales have been described. Having sucked on the fish, lamprey sometimes slowly torments it for several days or even weeks. The favorite food of the sea lamprey is salmon, sturgeon, eels, cod and some other large fish. Lampreys are very voracious, but immeasurably more fish die from wounds inflicted by lampreys. The secretions of the lamprey buccal glands entering the victim's wound prevent blood coagulation, cause the destruction of red blood cells and tissue decay. In fish affected by lampreys, the blood composition changes dramatically, it weakens and becomes more accessible to other parasites and predators. Lampreys feed especially intensively at the end of summer, when they gather in flocks.
In some areas of its habitat (for example, in the Amur), the Pacific lamprey is a valuable fishing object, which is obtained with special traps during the spawning run.
Lamprey is a fish known to man for a long time. The oldest fish found in marine sediments in North America is from the Carboniferous period, i.e. about 360 million years ago. The found remains of an ancient lamprey, as well as modern species, had many teeth in the mouth adapted for sucking and a long branchial apparatus.
There are about 40 species of these fish. Lampreys live in all temperate waters of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres and even in the basin of the Arctic Ocean. It is often found in Russia, especially in large rivers and lakes.
In European Russia, 3 types are widespread: stream (lives in streams and small rivers), river (lives in large rivers) and sea (the Caspian Sea basin). River lamprey is larger than brook lamprey.
Lampreys have a brain that is protected from the pharynx by the skull. The central nervous system of lampreys is divided into the brain and spinal cord. Unlike other fish. They have no bones or ribs. Their spinal column has been replaced by the so-called visigue.
The sense organs are simple. The eyes are poorly developed. The organ of hearing is the inner ear. The main sense organs are the lateral lines. They are represented by shallow fossae, at the bottom of which the ends of the vagus nerve are located.
Due to the absence of a swim bladder and paired fins, lampreys spend most of their life at the bottom of rivers and lakes. They are nocturnal. Most often they swim alone, but before spawning they gather in large groups.
Lampreys are parasites of fish. Fish meat is their main diet. They look for dead or live fish (caught in a net or left in the water on a hook) at the bottom. With their large mouth, lampreys stick to the body of the victim and bore through the skin of the fish with their numerous teeth. Then a powerful tongue with teeth at the end comes into play. With its help, the lamprey eats deep into the victim's body. Then it releases digestive juices into prey and after a while sucks out already partially digested food.
Due to their inactivity, lampreys are often prey for larger fish such as catfish, burbot and even eels. The latter are especially fond of them.
River lampreys are distinguished by their special vitality. For example, they can move for a long time even with a ripped belly.
Lampreys spawn in spring, in early May, in fresh water. They spawn in a rapid current between stones. The female sticks to the stone, and the male to the back of her head. Then he bends so that his belly is pressed against the belly of the female. When she begins to release her testicles, the male releases milk. Egg throwing takes place in several stages. The female can lay 9-10 thousand eggs at a time. Most of them are clogged by the current under the stones. Lampreys die after spawning.
After 3 weeks, juveniles appear that look like yellowish-white worms. They bury themselves in sand or silt. For this, the larva was nicknamed the sandworm. In this form, the larvae live for 4-5 years. Outwardly, they are very different from their parents. They are more like fish, their mouths are not yet so round.
Lamprey fishing is very common, especially here in Russia. They say she has very tasty meat. Need to try.
I almost forgot, there have been cases of attacks by sea lampreys on people, but not in Russia.
Man has been eating lampreys for several millennia. This fish was well known to the ancient Romans, who considered it a delicacy, like eels. In Europe, lampreys were popular with middle-class and well-to-do townspeople, who preferred it to traditional fish dishes during fasting because of their higher fat content.
Nutritional value:
Water: 76g, proteins: 17.5g, total fat / lipids: up to 40g, carbohydrates: 0.0g, ash: 0.8g. Average calorie content: 132Kcal / 100g.
The toxicity of cutaneous mucus prevented the mass consumption of lampreys in Russia until the 19th century. The appetizer, familiar to almost all of northern Europe, was completely unknown here. And in the southern regions of Russia lamprey, as a food, was completely unknown until recently, a hundred years ago in some provinces they made … candles from it, drying it entirely and dragging a wick through the body (the fat content is up to 50% of the volume!).
Culinary use:
They are fried, pickled in vinegar with spices, the mucus must be washed off, because poisonous.
Baked lamprey:
1.2-1.5 kg of medium lamprey (3-4 pcs), 3 tablespoons of dry white wine, 0.5 kg of coarse salt.
Garnish: lemon, a couple of parsley sprigs, lettuce.
Clean the lamprey, cut off the head and gut without cutting the belly. In a spacious bowl or in a small basin, pour water, fold the lamprey and add salt at the rate of 2-3 tablespoons per kilogram. Soak lampreys in salt for 15-20 minutes, rinse from mucus and foam and re-fill with salt. Repeat the process a couple more times until most of the mucus is removed.
Place the washed lampreys in rows on a dry baking sheet or in a sufficiently sized mold and place in an oven preheated to 180-200 degrees. Do not worry, they will not burn - lamprey is a rather fatty fish, its own fat will be enough for it.
Bake for 30-35 minutes. Serve hot, previously watered with the rest of the juice, diluted with 3 tablespoons of dry white wine. Decorate the dish with salad, parsley and a slice of lemon.
Pickled lamprey:
1 kg of medium lamprey (3-4 pcs), Marinade, per 1 kg of lamprey: Olive (vegetable) oil, in which the lamprey was fried, 2 medium onions, juice of one lemon and zest from its half, 1 tablespoon of vinegar (wine or apple), freshly ground (large!) black pepper, 2 bay leaves, 3 cloves buds, 1 tsp sugar, a glass of water.
Decapitate freshly caught (live) lamprey. Use coarse salt to remove mucus from the skin. Then gut and rinse everything well. Lightly season with salt and bread in flour. Lightly brown on each side - 3-4 minutes - in olive (vegetable) oil. Then transfer the 'fish' to fresh air and cool it down (in winter, take it to a cold balcony, in summer, put it in a cellar). Cut the cooled down into 3-4 pieces. Do not fold too tightly into the jar.
Prepare the marinade from the listed products and pour the prepared lamprey while still hot. Close the lid and leave in the refrigerator. After a day or two, a light jelly is formed, after three days - bon appetit!
Lampreys are caught with nets and traps in those places where this method of fishing is permitted. Due to the nature of the diet, lampreys are not caught on sports equipment. The lamprey larva, known in Russia as the "spindle", is an excellent bait for catching bream, ide, burbot, pike, perch and many other fish. They get it in the coastal silt, washing it in a sieve.
You can see about industrial fishing of lamprey, as well as about some of the features of this fish, in the video report from the Khabarovsk Territory of Russia at the end of the post.
What if there is one?