And It Lives In The Connecticut River

 Working in kindergarten, my days are filled with gobs of imaginary play with all things princess, unicorns, friends and ballerinas. It's a lovely magical world where favorite colors range from purple to pink, to rainbow and every story involve ponies, kittens and puppies. Trust me when I say, we ran out of glittery stickers months ago.

It's also a world where my days are filled with sharks, snakes (so many snakes), dinosaurs, hot lava and space travel emergencies. It's a lovely adventurous world where favorite colors include orange. Every story involves wolves, spiders, chickens and Megalodons. Trust me when I say that my job description includes, "must be able to morph into a zombie upon request."

I get it, I really do. I spent years swimming with my toes curled up after watching the 1975 film JAWS; but I'm going to ask my readers to open up their minds to exploration much in the same way that a kindergartner does. I implore you to indulge yourself with curiosity and ignore your learned revulsion for the creepy, the mega and the crawly. 

Wayne and I spent time at the Vernon Dam fish ladder watching for fish thru the two rectangle cutouts in the cement bunker-like viewing area. Our first customer attached itself to the smooth glass, defying the rushing water's attempt to sweep it away. When it detached from the glass, it's face reminded me every bit of someone who forgot to put their teeth in. However, with its disk shaped mouth attached to glass or not, it still sported five circular rows of fish grabbing hooks. Let me tell you, those hooks appeared to get progressively bigger the longer I stared at them! In the center there were three serrated teeth which I later learned are attached to a "tongue-like cartilligous rod"  These teeth scrape the fish gaining access to its bodily fluids upon which it feeds. Did I mention that it also had a cute flowing mustache all around the outside of its mouth? Try to think about it like (albeit fleshy) whiskers on a kitten helping the sweet little kitten to feel it's way around. Oh, and they are also for helping its jawless mouth to suction onto fish and flat surfaces. 

How are we doing with that childlike curiosity? Would it be helpful if I told you that adult Sea Lampreys begin to loose their hooks and don't eat while in the Connecticut River?  They are here for only a short while, living off of their fat reserves on their way to tributaries to spawn. Once they lay their eggs in a shallow gravel nest, they perish. Lamprey larvae live in the river for as many as ten years as they casually make their way to the ocean. "These larvae burrow into the mud filtering out algae, small organisms and waste as food"  I suppose that I should have lead with this information. 

Two enchanting fish eyes, one on either side

 plus two parietal eyes that detect polarized light 

Seven gill slits on each side

Water pumping both in and out through the gill slits, allowing lamprey to remain attached and still take in water 

A poor swimmer with two dorsal fins and no pectoral fins.

The second dorsal merges with their anal fin. 

A boneless ancient fish

Living and feeding as adults in the Atlantic Ocean for two years

Returning to the river in late May and early June. Bringing within them, valuable trace elements from the ocean and depositing them into the river 

Making their way into brooks in which they spawn.  In death becoming food for mammals, insects and other fish,

A chance to glimpse 340 million years into the past.

as they climb up the Vernon fish ladder 

Suctioning themselves to one flat surface after another, never to return.

Sea Lamprey, a story older than the dinosaurs.  A story where our  native anadromous fish hero is mistaken for a related lake dwelling invader who makes fishermen squeamish. Persecuted by man due to an ugly face and imagined to be a snake, Sea Lamprey face threats by polluters, loss of tributaries and dams. Consumed by man and all manner of creature, our hero spends the entirety of its time in its river home functioning to the benefit of the river's ecosystem. Oh if only Sea Lamprey had glittery rainbow mermaid scales covering its long flowing body as it swam in the magical world of the Connecticut River!  - Norma Manning

Addendum: A reader questioned if there are any other migratory / anadromous fish in the Connecticut River besides the Sea Lamprey. What a great question! Shad, Salmon, Blueback Herring and Alewives are all anadromous fish found in the Connecticut River. I found this information on the Connecticut River Conservancy site.  This site states that we also host a catadromous fish the American Eel which is born in the ocean, matures in rivers and estuaries and then returns to the ocean to spawn and die.  

Resources and Further Reading:

1) Slideshare, External Anatomy of a Lamprey- Class Agnatha

2) Biodiversity, Labratory2: Fishes and Amphibians, The Jawless Fishes

3) Connecticut River Conservancy, Sea Lamprey: The Ancient Fish

4) Quizlet, Sea Lamprey

5) Canadian Rivers Institute, Sea Lamprey, Petromyzon Marinus

6) Connecticut DOE and Environmental Protection, Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon Marinus)- Anadromous

7) NIH National Library of Medicine, Feeding and Breathing in Lampreys

8) Wikipedia, Lamprey