Geotriinae
Mordaciinae
Petromyzontinae
A lamprey is a jawless fish with a toothed, funnel-like sucking mouth, with which most species bore into the flesh of other fishes to suck their blood. In zoology, lampreys are not considered to be true fish because of their vastly different morphology and physiology.
Lamprey - Physical description.
Lampreys live mostly in coastal and fresh waters, although at least one species, Geotria australis, probably travels significant dis ...
The taxonomy presented here is that given by Fisher, 1994. The lampreys comprise an entire class Cephalaspidomorphi, containing a single order Petromyzontiformes and family Petromyzontidae.
Within this family, there are 40 recorded species in 9 genera and 3 subfamilies:
Subfamily Geotriianae
Genus Geotria
Geotria australis (Gray,1851)
Subfamily Mordaciinae
Genus Mordacia
Mordacia lapicida (Gray, 1851) ...
Lampreys live mostly in coastal and fresh waters, although at least one species, Geotria australis, probably travels significant distances in the open ocean, as is evidenced by the lack of reproductive isolation between Australian and New Zealand populations, and the capture of a specimen in the Southern Ocean between Australia and Antarctica. They are found in most temperate regions except Africa. Their larvae have a low tolerance for high water temperatures, which is probably the reason that they are not found in the tropics. Outwar ...
