A day at the beach in Michigan is fun, right? Well, perhaps not with these devilish serpents invading the waters.
The sea lamprey’s (Petromyzon marinus) eel-like body can grow up to two feet long and it lives for about six years as a predator and almost ten as a filter feeder. Basically making it a swimming parasitic snake. Plus it is equipped with a frightening large round mouth with rows of sharp curved teeth and a rasping tongue.
However, there is not much to worry about as the sea lamprey does not directly attack humans. They are adapted to attach only to cold-blooded fish and will not attach to a warm-blooded mammal. While they do not directly affect humans, their lifestyle and invasive manner is leading to a downfall in state fishery.
Sea lampreys will attach their vacuum-like mouths onto the side of a fish killing them. Depsite not being native to the Great Lakes excluding Lake Ontario, the sea lamprey seems to have moved to Lake Erie through the Welland Canal. This is where problems start to arise.
A sea lamprey will kill over forty pounds of fish in their lifetime. And with their rapidly increasing population in the Great Lakes, fishing companies are struggling to make ends meet. Sea lamprey have a high reproduction rate and little to no natural predators, especially in areas like these where they do not belong. Taking care of invasive may not only make the water feel safer, but will keep the ecosystem in balance by maintaining a healthy number of fish in the Great Lakes.
