General Description

Long, slender eel-like fishes with two dorsal fins near the tail, 7 pairs of pore-like gill openings, a single median nostril and an oral disc fringed with skin flaps and armed with many small, horny teeth. Adults dark brown to grey; young adults at sea are silver or silvery cobalt blue, with two greenish or blue-green dorsal stripes. To 60 cm.

Biology

These are primitive, migratory jawless fishes spawn eggs in the headwaters of freshwater rivers and streams. After metamorphosis, young adults migrate downstream to estuaries and coastal waters, where they feed parasitically by rasping flesh from other fishes with their toothy tongues. They eventually cease feeding and migrate back to freshwaters to breed.

Distribution guide

Southern Australia.

Species Group

Fishes › Lampreys

Depth

Shore (0-1 m)
Shallow (1-30 m)
Deep ( > 30 m)

Water Column

On or near sea floor

Max Size

60 cm

Commercial Species

No

Global Dispersal

Native to Australia

Conservation Status

• DSE Advisory List : Not listed
• EPBC Act 1999 : Not listed
• IUCN Red List : Not listed