Species

Species	Brook lamprey - Lampetra planeri, fish
Habitat	RIVERS AND STREAMS
Background and status	The lampreys belong to a small group of ‘jawless’ fish, the most primitive of all living vertebrates. Eel-like in shape, they have only one nostril! Adults migrate upstream to spawn, normally in stony or gravelly stretches of running water. The young larvae travel downstream with the current to end up in sandy and silty areas where they spend the next few years in burrows. They metamorphose to become full adults, and usually migrate downstream away from the nursery areas. Brook lampreys never feed as adults, after metamorphosing they spawn and die. They are rare and seriously declining. No comprehensive information on their distribution, but they may have disappeared from some river systems.
Main Threats	Pollution and river engineering
Conservation and targets	detailed information is needed on their status and distribution on rivers where lampreys exist improvements in water quality and habitat should be sought; artificial barriers to upstream migration should be removed or alternative routes supplied restoration by translocation should be considerd monitoring at key sites should be established a public-awareness programme should be established

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