Lamprey or eels

[lickmyarmpit]

Look at the back of the screen there was about five or six of them on a spawing bed. http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid92.photobucket.com/albums/l31/lickmyarmpit/video-2012-05-21-14-52-41.mp4

[Joey]

Video doesn't work for me!

[Fisherman]

I thought american eels only spawn in the sargasso sea while the lamprey go up rivers.

[danc]

Lampreys are Eels. I can't tell from your video but I've seen Lampreys spawn many times. The ones that I've seen spawning seem to be quite a bit bigger than the ones in your video, so I'm not really sure.

 

[Bluegill]

Lampreys are Eels....

 

No, there is no relationship between lamprey and eel:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamprey

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eel

[kickingfrog]

Lampreys are not eels.

 

I can't see anything clearly from the video, but I don't see how they couldn't be anything but lamprey. Sea Lamprey get all the press, but there are a few native species that are not any concern to game fish populations.

[danc]

No, there is no relationship between lamprey and eel:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamprey

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eel

 

I stand corrected.

[lickmyarmpit]

I tried to call the invasive species hotline but they were off for the weekend as well. I'd go net them out of the creek myself but I want the ok from the mnr first.

[kickingfrog]

They may not be sea lamprey and removing native lamprey species will likely land you in hotwater.

[John Bacon]

I thought american eels only spawn in the sargasso sea while the lamprey go up rivers.

 

You are correct. If they are spawning then they are not American eels. They must be lamprey; but not necessarily sea lamprey.

[highdrifter]

How big were they?! Those look to be brook lamprey...

 

If you're way up from the lake and the main river has fish barriers, those lamprey are most likely native.

[lickmyarmpit]

Way up from the lake, a foot and a half long I'd say. Really popular lake o trib.

[highdrifter]

Way up from the lake, a foot and a half long I'd say. Really popular lake o trib.

 

A foot and a half?!?! Dems ain't brook lampreys then.. If it's the humber of the credit, the weirs and dams would have stopped them from getting up that far.. If it's a trib with no barriers, those may actually be from the lake!

 

Time to break out the ol' pitchfork and flashlight!!

[OhioFisherman]

I can`t see them in the picture. Many years ago I caught some small eels in the early spring here while seining bait in a tributary of Lake Erie, about 15 - 20 miles inland. These were a medium brown color and about 6 inches long, their mouths weren`t shaped anything like a lamprey.

 

There was a little dent about the size of a coffee cup in the stream bed, right in the current. At first I though they were eel grass. My dad called them sand eels, I have no real clue, I never saw another again.

 

I was going to use them for bait, but they didn`t look well after a couple of minutes out of the current so I released them. A lamprey`s mouth is pretty hard to forget, and their color is different.

 

I found this : http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/species_a_to_z/SpeciesGuideIndex/americaneel/tabid/6535/Default.aspx

 

It looks correct, just smaller sized, they were a long way from salt water to spawn!

[jigsnreels]

A foot and a half?!?! Dems ain't brook lampreys then..

 

Yep. Neither species of freshwater lamprey (Northern Brook Lamprey and American Brook Lamprey) get to be any bigger than about six to eight inches long. If these are as big as you say they are, they're sea lampreys for sure.

[Acountdeleted]

Judging by the picture they are for sure sea Lamprey. Although the barrier on the Credit is supposed to stop them, there is a study going on this year because the DFO has concerns that they lamprey have been able to get over the barrier.

 

 

[craigdritchie]

Sea lamprey. Common sight in Great Lakes tributaries at this time of year.

[fishnsled]

Might have stumbled upon the Queen's private stock.

 

Queen Elizabeth To Eat Lamprey Pie Made From Great Lakes Fish