Giant American brook lampreys, Lampetra lamottei , in the upper Great Lakes

Abstract

Five female American brook lampreys, Lampetra lamottei , collected in lakes Michigan and Huron averaged nearly twice as long and about six times as heavy as American brook lampreys of normal size. Three factors suggested that the giant lampreys may have fed parasitically after metamorphosis: morphological adaptations of the species for parasitic life, their large size, and absence of extremely large ammocetes among a million sampled.