In news– A rare, blood-sucking creature with rows of swirling teeth has been found on a beach in The Netherlands.
About Sea lamprey-
- This ‘vampire fish’, as it is called due to its nature to extract the blood of its prey, was discovered on the Dutch island of Texel.
- They belong to the oldest group of vertebrates, the Agnatha, which existed more than 400 million years ago before there were fish with jaws.
- According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a US government agency, sea lamprey is a parasitic fish native to the northern and western Atlantic Ocean. It is often confused with eels.
- Unlike other fish, lampreys lack scales, fins, and gill covers and their skeletons are made of cartilage.
- The lampreys attack fish to suck the blood out using their sucker-shaped mouth.
- NOAA said the fish uses its rough tongue to rasp away other fish’s flesh so it can feed on its host’s blood and body fluids.
- It further said that one sea lamprey kills about 40 pounds of fish every year.
Source: WIONEWS
