Why is this animal unusual?
It belongs to a group of jawless fish that has barely changed in about 360 million years. It has a skeleton of cartilage, a single nostril on top of its head and seven breathing holes along each side.
Why does it look like that?
The mouth is a suction disc filled with circles of horn-like teeth, with a rasping tongue in the middle.
Strangest biological feature
Its spit. It contains a chemical that stops blood from clotting, so the wound keeps flowing while the lamprey feeds.
Why is it strange?
A young lamprey spends years as a blind, toothless worm buried in river mud, filtering tiny bits of food. Then it transforms, grows eyes and teeth and heads out to sea.
Interesting behavioral facts
When canals let sea lampreys into North America’s Great Lakes, they devastated the fish there. Controlling them still costs millions every year.
Records held
King Henry I of England is said to have died in 1135 from eating too many lampreys. They were a royal delicacy for centuries.
