Mattawoman Sea Lamprey

Type: Tidal
Region: Southern
Location: Mattawoman

Here is a lamprey I caught in Mattawoman Creek. The teeth come out at you, it looks like a parasite. I thought I caught some kind of alien fish at first.

DNR Response: Sea Lampreys are an anadromous fish that spawns in several of the tidal rivers in Maryland. The adults are mottled brown on top and yellow below. They do not eat when they enter Maryland�s rivers and die after laying fertilized eggs in a gravel bottom at the rivers headwaters. The young live as filter feeders in the freshwater areas for up to 10-years before they return to the ocean at about 10� long. It is in the ocean that they become parasitic and use a jawless circular rasping disk mouth to suck fluids from host fish. The adults typically range in size from 24� to 30� in length.