Interesting read on the American Eel

[Brian Jones]

I know the eel has been talked about on here before, but I came across this this evening and thought I'd share.  Pretty interesting life cycle and journey.

http://mdc.mo.gov/newsroom/mdc-resource-scientists-track-american-eel-s-688-mile-journey

[Smallieguy87]

Very cool read Brian. The only eel i've ever caught was out of the Meramac river. Made for an interesting day of fishing!

[snagged in outlet 3]

I used to catch them a lot when we cat fished the Mississippi River.

I haven't done that in years..

Pete

[Smallieguy87]

i've heard theres lampreys in the Meramec as well but have yet to catch a fish with one attached to it. I know they're a problem on some of the great lakes.

[Guest]

CDeleted.

[Smallieguy87]

1 minute ago, siusaluki said:

Completely different species of lamprey.  The ones found here are native and cause no harm.

 very cool! thanks siusaluki! always learning something new here.

[Brian Jones]

1 hour ago, Smallieguy87 said:

Very cool read Brian. The only eel i've ever caught was out of the Meramac river. Made for an interesting day of fishing!

We caught two on Big RIver one night in '94 while pole and line catfishing.  We were camped at Thorton Bluff; about two miles or so below the Hwy E bridge.  Of course we never thought to take a picture and most people think that we are telling a big tale when we talk about them.  

15 minutes ago, Smallieguy87 said:

i've heard theres lampreys in the Meramec as well but have yet to catch a fish with one attached to it. I know they're a problem on some of the great lakes.

I've caught fish with lampreys or lamprey marks on them out of all the rivers we fish.  It seems like we catch the most in the winter and spring.  However, I once saw a big rough fish on upper Big River in the middle of the summer that had four or five on him.  Felt kinda sorry for the big feller.    

[Smallieguy87]

Speaking of interesting things on the river! About 12 years ago a friend of mine owned some land in Tiff, MO that had direct access to big river. We were down on a gravel bar adjacent to the property where there was an old broken up low water bridge and part of it formed a current break. We both looked down and spotted 2 Hellbenders. We tried to take a few pictures but the cameras on phones in those days were barely a megapixel and certainly weren't water proof lol It was kind of a once in a life time thing to see two of them there like that considering how endangered they are.

[Al Agnew]

Lampreys...yep, we catch a lot of bass on the rivers in the winter that have lampreys on them.  Maybe they are easier for the lampreys to grab onto when they are sluggish in colder water, who knows?  I almost never catch one with a lamprey in the summer.  There are actually several different species of lampreys in Ozark streams, only one of which is parasitic, the chestnut lamprey.  They have a very interesting life cycle as well.  The larval form does not have eyes nor a sucking disc mouth, and burrows into soft bottomed areas of streams, feeding on microscopic life and organic particles by sucking in sediment and straining it through sieve-like structures.  They take at least two to three years to develop into adults.  transformation into the adult form happens over several months in the late summer and autumn.  The adults move out of the smaller streams into larger ones and attach themselves to fish, sucking blood through a hole rasped by hard, tongue-like structures in the mouth disc.  It takes several days for them to complete the meal and drop off.  Adults live about 18 more months, and then the adults return to the smaller streams to spawn.  Spawning occurs in shallow pits in gravelly riffles, using their suction disc mouth to carry stones from the pit.  As many as 50 lampreys have been seen spawning in a single pit.  In chestnut lampreys the pit is continually excavated on the upper end and filled on the lower end.  Adults don't feed once they start to spawn and die after spawning.

There are several non-parasitic brook lampreys, which may spend up to 6 years in the larval stage, then transform into adults, spawn, and die, without feeding as adults.

[Mitch f]

9 minutes ago, Al Agnew said:

Lampreys...yep, we catch a lot of bass on the rivers in the winter that have lampreys on them.  Maybe they are easier for the lampreys to grab onto when they are sluggish in colder water, who knows?  I almost never catch one with a lamprey in the summer.  There are actually several different species of lampreys in Ozark streams, only one of which is parasitic, the chestnut lamprey.  They have a very interesting life cycle as well.  The larval form does not have eyes nor a sucking disc mouth, and burrows into soft bottomed areas of streams, feeding on microscopic life and organic particles by sucking in sediment and straining it through sieve-like structures.  They take at least two to three years to develop into adults.  transformation into the adult form happens over several months in the late summer and autumn.  The adults move out of the smaller streams into larger ones and attach themselves to fish, sucking blood through a hole rasped by hard, tongue-like structures in the mouth disc.  It takes several days for them to complete the meal and drop off.  Adults live about 18 more months, and then the adults return to the smaller streams to spawn.  Spawning occurs in shallow pits in gravelly riffles, using their suction disc mouth to carry stones from the pit.  As many as 50 lampreys have been seen spawning in a single pit.  In chestnut lampreys the pit is continually excavated on the upper end and filled on the lower end.  Adults don't feed once they start to spawn and die after spawning.

There are several non-parasitic brook lampreys, which may spend up to 6 years in the larval stage, then transform into adults, spawn, and die, without feeding as adults.

My take on lampreys in the winter is that when you catch a fish with a lamprey, it's in a school. I believe that's why the lampreys  attacked them because they are all bunched up.