Older than the dinosaurs, Pacific lamprey look like eels, but are actually a prehistoric fish with a cartilaginous skeleton and unique physiology.
"They have an oral disc...and rows of teeth," says Lea Medeiros, Research Scientist at the University of Idaho. "They have a life history that’s very similar to salmon, so they go upriver to spawn.”
Dr. Medeiros explains the many ways lamprey contribute to our Northwest ecosystem and also how, as a first food, that they’re “just as important as salmon” to the Native American tribes of the Columbia River Basin.
In the 60's and 70's, the returning lamprey population was in the millions, but with the development of dams, they declined to a low of about 20,000. Recent conservation efforts have increased the number of returning adults, but are still very low compared to historic numbers.
Mellisa learns how the University of Idaho is trying to sustain this ancient species.