Kōrero: Marine animals without backbones

Swimming lamprey (2 o 2)

Swimming lamprey

Lampreys may look like eels, but they lack a true backbone – although they do have a gelatinous rod of tissue running down their backs. They can grow to 50–60 centimetres in length. After spending time at sea, lampreys return to fresh water. There, they do not eat again, spending some 15 months hiding in river margins before breeding and dying.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Department of Conservation
Reference: 10049717
Photograph by Stephen Moore

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Te tuhi tohutoro mō tēnei whārangi:

Dennis Gordon and Maggy Wassilieff, 'Marine animals without backbones - Lancelets, lampreys and hagfish', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/mi/photograph/5874/swimming-lamprey (accessed 26 April 2024)

He kōrero nā Dennis Gordon and Maggy Wassilieff, i tāngia i te 12 Jun 2006