Caspian lamprey
The Caspian lamprey ( Caspiomyzon wagneri ) is the only species of the genus Caspiomyzon from the family of lampreys ( Petromyzontidae ).
Features
The Caspian lamprey has a aalähnlichen, scaleless body. It has like all lampreys a cartilaginous skeleton, no eddy and no pair of fins. His upper jaw plate is narrow and busy with a single blunt tooth. On the lower jaw plate, however, sit five teeth, of which the two outer sometimes have two humps. The oral disc, however, is occupied in the inner region with truncated in the outer region with weak, rounded and arranged in oblique arches horn teeth. The front tongue plate has on its front edge a number of equal-sized teeth, a middle recess of the tongue plate does not exist. The dorsal fins of adult animals, depending on the stage of maturity, separated by a wide gap, or are in contact. The second dorsal fin is connected to the tail fin.
The back of the species is colored pale greenish olivaceous to dark, mottling or dark spots are absent. The flanks and belly are bright and have a silvery luster. The Caspian lamprey usually reaches a length of 20 to 40 cm, rarely also occur specimens up to 55 cm, and a weight of 200 g
Dissemination
The Caspian lamprey is endemic to the Caspian Sea, as well as leading- rivers like Volga (including tributaries Kama and Oka ), Ural, Terek and Kura.
Way of life
The Caspian lamprey is a non parasitic Art It is a migratory fish, which rises from October to December in large numbers in the rivers. From this point, make the animals a food intake. Following the winter rest is from March to May, the spawning season of this kind are spawned at appropriate places in the sandy and gravelly river bed of the females depending on the size 20000-36000 eggs in nest pits. After spawning the animals die.