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Behavior and potential threats to survival of migrating lamprey ammocoetes and macrophthalmia

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Abstract

Upon metamorphosis, anadromous juvenile lamprey (macrophthalmia) exhibit distinct migration behaviors that take them from larval rearing habitats in streams to the open ocean. While poorly studied, lamprey larvae (ammocoetes) also engage in downstream movement to some degree. Like migrating salmon smolts, lamprey macrophthalmia undergo behavioral changes associated with a highly synchronized metamorphosis. Unlike salmon smolts, the timing of juvenile migration in lamprey is protracted and poorly documented. Lamprey macrophthalmia and ammocoetes are not strong swimmers, attaining maximum individual speeds of less than 1 m s−1, and sustained speeds of less than 0.5 m s−1. They are chiefly nocturnal and distribute throughout the water column, but appear to concentrate near the bottom in the thalweg of deep rivers. At dams and irrigation diversions, macrophthalmia can become impinged on screens or entrained in irrigation canals, suffer increased predation, and experience physical injury that may result in direct or delayed mortality. The very structures designed to protect migrating juvenile salmonids can be harmful to juvenile lamprey. Yet at turbine intakes and spillways, lampreys, which have no swim bladder, can withstand changes in pressure and shear stress large enough to injure or kill most teleosts. Lamprey populations are in decline in many parts of the world, with some species designated as species of concern for conservation that merit legally mandated protections. Hence, provisions for safe passage of juvenile lamprey are being considered at dams and water diversions in North America and Europe.

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Acknowledgments

This review benefitted from help and data provided by the following researchers: M. Docker, M. Gessel, M. Hayes, J. Jolley, P. Kemp, R. Lampman, R. Mensik, M. Mesa, I. Russon, J. Simonson, B. Spurgeon, S. Tackley, B. Trealoar, A. Vowles, J. Weaskus, L. Weitcamp, and J. Wolf. Anonymous reviewers provided valuable comments on an early draft that were incorporated into this version. This work was funded in part by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Bonneville Power Administration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries, 2725 Montlake Boulevard, Seattle, WA, 98112, USA

    Mary L. Moser

  2. Department of Natural Resources, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, 46411 Timine Way, Pendleton, OR, 97801, USA

    Aaron D. Jackson

  3. School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Durham University, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK

    Martyn C. Lucas

  4. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, Richland, WA, 99352, USA

    Robert P. Mueller

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Correspondence to Mary L. Moser.

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Moser, M.L., Jackson, A.D., Lucas, M.C. et al. Behavior and potential threats to survival of migrating lamprey ammocoetes and macrophthalmia. Rev Fish Biol Fisheries 25, 103–116 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11160-014-9372-8

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