The short-finned eel, also known as the shortfin eel, is one of the 15 species of eel in the family Anguillidae. It is native to the lakes, dams and coastal rivers of south-eastern Australia, New Zealand, and much of the South Pacific, including New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, Lord Howe Island, Tahiti, and Fiji.
The sea lamprey is a parasitic lamprey native to the Northern Hemisphere. It is sometimes referred to as the "vampire fish".
The common galaxias or inanga is a very widespread Southern Hemisphere fish in the family Galaxiidae. It is a slim, narrow fish with a forked tail and a mottled, spotty pattern, typically about 10 cm (4 in) long when fully grown. It lives in fresh water, but spawns at river mouths and spends the first six months of its life at sea, returning en masse in spring. Its vernacular names include cowfish, jollytail, common jollytail, eel gudgeon, inaka, native trout, pulangi, puye, slippery tarki, spotted minnow, Falklands minnow and whitebait.
The brook lamprey is a small European lamprey species that exclusively inhabits freshwater environments. The species is related to, but distinct from, the North American western brook lamprey.
Mordacia mordax, known as the short-headed lamprey, Australian lamprey or Murray lamprey, is a species of Mordacia that lives in south-eastern Australia and Tasmania. Mordaciidae is made up of three species: M. praedox, M. mordax, and M. lapicida. M. mordax is a relatively rare, parasitic vertebrate and, along with the hagfishes, is part of the only surviving group of jawless organisms throughout vertebrate evolution. It has a thin eel-like body up to 50 cm (20 in) long, with two low dorsal fins on the back half. The skin is blue-gray or brown. Its eyes are small, and located on the top of its head.
The Pacific lamprey is an anadromous parasitic lamprey from the Pacific Coast of North America and Asia. It is a member of the Petromyzontidae family. The Pacific lamprey is also known as the three-tooth lamprey and tridentate lamprey.
The New Zealand longfin eel, also known as ōrea, is a species of freshwater eel that is endemic to New Zealand. It is the largest freshwater eel in New Zealand and the only endemic species – the other eels found in New Zealand are the native shortfin eel, also found in Australia, and the naturally introduced Australian longfin eel. Longfin eels are long-lived, migrating to the Pacific Ocean near Tonga to breed at the end of their lives. They are good climbers as juveniles and so are found in streams and lakes a long way inland. An important traditional food source for Māori, who name them ōrea, longfin eel numbers are declining and they are classified as endangered, but over one hundred tonnes are still commercially fished each year.
The giant kōkopu is a threatened species of ray-finned fish in the genus Galaxias, found only in New Zealand. It can reach up to 58 cm (23 in) in length and 2.7 kg (6.0 lb) in weight, making it the largest species in the family Galaxiidae. It is a mainly lowland species, commonly found in slow-flowing streams, wetlands, lakes, and lagoons. Most populations have an amphidromous life cycle, with larvae going to sea soon after hatching and returning about four months later as small juveniles, 4.5–5 cm (1.8–2.0 in). Juvenile giant kōkopu form a small part of the annual whitebait catch.
The New Zealand grayling is an extinct species of fish that was endemic to New Zealand. It was known to the Māori by many names, including pokororo, paneroro, kanae-kura, and most commonly, upokororo. The variety of names for the fish came from either multiple tribes, or to describe the fish at different periods of its life cycle. Even though this fish is named grayling, it is not related to European or American graylings and lacks the large dorsal fin ‘typical’ graylings are characterised by. It is, however, closely related to the Australian grayling. The New Zealand grayling was an amphidromous species, migrating between freshwater and saltwater during different seasons as well as stages in their life cycle. The last sighting of the New Zealand grayling was in 1923, and it was declared extinct in 2018.
The Australasian snapper or silver seabream is a species of porgie found in coastal waters of Australia, Philippines, Indonesia, mainland China, Taiwan, Japan and New Zealand. Its distribution areas in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres are disjunct. Although it is almost universally known in Australia and New Zealand as snapper, it does not belong to the snapper family, Lutjanidae. It is highly prized as an edible fish, with a sweet sea taste and a firm texture.
The silver lamprey is a lamprey commonly found in the Northern and Central United States, as well as a large part of southern Canada. Its binomial name means "sucking fish" in Greek and "one-pointed" in Latin. The silver lamprey is a member of the Class Agnatha, sometimes referred to as cyclostomes (round-mouths). Other common names include: Bloodsucker, Blue Lamprey, Hitch-hiker, Lamper, Lamprey Eel. The silver lamprey should not to be confused with the sea lamprey, which has caused considerable damage to native fish populations in the Great Lakes region.
The mountain brook lamprey or Allegheny brook lamprey is a lamprey found in parts of the Mississippi river basin, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and in the Cumberland River and Tennessee River. This fish is jawless with a small sucker mouth and a long, eel-like body. It is fairly small, only growing to about 8 inches (20 cm) in length.
The northern brook lamprey is a freshwater fish in the family Petromyzontidae. It is closely related to the silver lamprey and may represent an ecotype of a single species with I. unicuspis.
The lake lamprey, Entosphenus macrostomus, also known as the Vancouver lamprey or Cowichan lamprey, a recent derivative of the Pacific lamprey, is a species of freshwater lamprey endemic to two North American lakes: Lake Cowichan and Mesachie Lake in Vancouver Island, Canada. The lamprey was originally called the Vancouver Island lamprey, until an error in filing shortened it to the Vancouver lamprey. The alternate common name of "Cowichan lamprey" was coined and promoted by the species' describer, Dr. Dick Beamish, who originally identified the species in the 1980s.
Mordacia lapicida, also known as the Chilean lamprey, is a species of southern topeyed lamprey endemic to southern Chile, where it can be found in riverine and marine habitats. This species is anadromous. This parasitic lamprey can reach a length of 54 centimetres (21 in) SL. Ammocoetes and adults of this species are found in rivers, and occur in fine sand along river banks. The life cycle of a Mordacia lapicida is divided into three life stages: freshwater rearing, an ocean parasite and an adult spawning stage. Once in the adult stage, individuals migrate into marine waters where they attack and attach themselves to marine fishes.
Lampreys are an ancient extant lineage of jawless fish of the order Petromyzontiformes, placed in the superclass Cyclostomata. The adult lamprey may be characterized by a toothed, funnel-like sucking mouth. The common name "lamprey" is probably derived from Latin lampetra, which may mean "stone licker", though the etymology is uncertain. Lamprey is sometimes seen for the plural form.
The least brook lamprey is a common, non-parasitic lamprey distributed in the Mississippi River watershed, and a limited range along the Atlantic coast.
The lake whitefish is a species of freshwater whitefish from North America. Lake whitefish are found throughout much of Canada and parts of the northern United States, including all of the Great Lakes. The lake whitefish is sometimes referred to as a "humpback" fish due to the small size of the head in relation to the length of the body. It is a valuable commercial fish, and also occasionally taken by sport fishermen. Smoked, refrigerated, vacuum-packed lake whitefish fillets are available in North American grocery stores. Other vernacular names used for this fish include Otsego bass, Sault whitefish, gizzard fish, common whitefish, eastern whitefish, Great Lakes whitefish, humpback whitefish, inland whitefish and whitefish.
Priscomyzon riniensis is an extinct lamprey that lived some 360 million years ago during the Famennian in a marine or estuarine environment in South Africa. This small agnathan is anatomically similar to the Mazon Creek lampreys, but is some 35 million years older. Its key developments included the first known large oral disc, circumoral teeth and a branchial basket.
Lampetra ayresii is a species of lamprey in the family Petromyzontidae. It is also called the river lamprey or western river lamprey. It is found in the eastern Pacific, specifically from Tee Harbor, Juneau in Alaska to the Sacramento–San Joaquin drainage in California, USA. It can survive in both marine surface waters and freshwater lakes, rivers, and creeks. In freshwater, it is found typically in the lower portions of large river systems. It is a predatory fish and feeds on fishes in the size range of 10–30 cm. It feeds by attaching to prey using its round, sucker-like mouth. Adult western river lampreys typically grow to about 21 cm (8.3 in) total length (TL), but can reach 31 cm (12 in) TL.
