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Sea Lamprey Attached to a Greenland Shark in the St. Lawrence Estuary, Canada

Authors:
Jeffrey J. Hay Gallant at St. Lawrence Shark Observatory (ORS | GEERG)
Jeffrey J. Hay Gallant
  • St. Lawrence Shark Observatory (ORS | GEERG)
Chris Harvey-Clark at University of British Columbia
Chris Harvey-Clark
Ransom A. Myers
Ransom A. Myers
Ransom A. Myers
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
Michael J. W. Stokesbury at Acadia University
Michael J. W. Stokesbury
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A Petromyzon marinus (sea lamprey) was observed attached to an approximately 3-m fork length, male Somniosus microcephalus (Greenland shark) on 9 October 2004 in Baie St. Pancrace, St. Lawrence Estuary, PQ. This is the first report of a sea lamprey attached to a member of Somniosidae.
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NORTHEASTERN NATURALIST
2006 13(1):35–38
Sea Lamprey Attached to a Greenland Shark in the
St. Lawrence Estuary, Canada
JEFFREY GALLANT
1
, CHRIS HARVEY-CLARK
2
, RANSOM A. MYERS
3
,
AND MICHAEL J.W. STOKESBURY
3,*
Abstract - A Petromyzon marinus (sea lamprey) was observed attached to an
approximately 3-m fork length, male Somniosus microcephalus (Greenland shark) on
9 October 2004 in Baie St. Pancrace, St. Lawrence Estuary, PQ. This is the first
report of a sea lamprey attached to a member of Somniosidae.
Introduction
Petromyzon marinus Linnaeus (sea lamprey) is the largest lamprey spe-
cies (Scott and Crossman 1973). Landlocked sea lampreys have been studied
extensively in fresh water, but little is known of the oceanic and estuarine
portions of the life cycle of anadromous conspecifics (Beamish 1980, Scott
and Scott 1988). Sea lampreys spawn in fresh water and their larvae spend
6–8 years in the substrate (Beamish and Potter 1975) followed by metamor-
phosis (Ooi and Youson 1977) and movement to sea. They remain in the
estuarine and marine environment for a juvenile feeding period lasting 23 to
28 months (Beamish 1980), during which they grow from approximately 4 to
900 g (Beamish 1980). At the end of this period, sea lampreys move into
rivers as adults and reproduce. During the juvenile feeding phase, sea lam-
preys typically are considered predatory, if their feeding kills the animal
they are attacking, or parasitic, if the animal continues to survive (Scott and
Scott 1988). Sea lampreys attach to prey or hosts by suction created using
their buccal funnel. They then use their rasping tongue to grind through the
skin or scales, and they ultimately feed on the flesh and body fluids (Scott
and Scott 1988). Sea lampreys feed on a wide variety of bony fishes
(Beamish 1980, Bigelow and Schroeder 1953, Halliday 1991): Eubalaena
glacialis Borowski (right whale) (Nichols and Hamilton 2004), Cetorhinus
maximus Gunnerus (basking shark) (Bigelow and Schroeder 1953),
Prionace glauca L. (blue shark) (Benz and Bullard 2004), and Carcharhinus
plumbeus Nardo (sandbar shark), and C. obscurus Lesueur (dusky sharks)
(Jenson and Schwartz 1994). Herein we report observation of a sea lamprey
attached to a Somniosus microcephalus (Bloch and Schneider) (Greenland
shark) in Baie St. Pancrace, PQ, Canada.
1
Greenland Shark and Elasmobranch Education and Research Group, PO Box 483,
Drummondville, PQ, Canada J2B 6W3.
2
Animal Care Center, University of British
Columbia, 6199 South Campus Drive, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1W5.
3
Depart-
ment of Biological Sciences, Dalhousie University, 1355 Oxford Street, Halifax, NS,
Canada B3H 4J1. *Corresponding author - mstokesb@dal.ca.
Northeastern Naturalist Vol. 13, No. 1
36
Methods and Results
On 9 October 2004 at 14:23 h, divers using SCUBA observed, photo-
graphed, and videotaped a sea lamprey attached to a Greenland shark in Baie
St. Pancrace (49.288°N, 68.049°W), St. Lawrence Estuary, PQ. The ap-
proximately 3-m fork length, male Greenland shark approached the divers
with the sea lamprey attached to its ventral side between the pelvic fins close
to the base of the claspers. The sea lamprey was approximately 40 cm long
and was bluish-grey (Fig. 1). The shark swam away from the divers, toward
deeper water, as the divers approached to photograph the lamprey. The
encounter between the divers and shark lasted approximately 2 minutes and
was recorded using digital and video cameras. Observations were made at a
water depth of 22 m, 0.5 m above the bottom. Water temperature at 22 m
depth was 4.4 ºC. Three other Greenland sharks were observed on this dive,
however, no other sea lamprey was observed.
Discussion
This is the first record of a sea lamprey attached to a member of
Somniosidae (Squaliformes). Sea lampreys are found from the shallows to
depths in excess of 4000 m (Halliday 1991, Scott and Crossman 1973) and
display an ambient water temperature tolerance from -0.6 to 20 ºC (Beamish
1980). In the western Atlantic Ocean, they range from waters off southwest-
ern Greenland (Scott and Scott 1988) to Florida and the Gulf of Mexico
Figure 1. Sea lamprey attached to a Greenland shark, 9 October 2004, in Bay St.
Pancrace, St. Lawrence Estuary, PQ, Canada.
J. Gallant, C. Harvey-Clark, R.A. Myers, and M.J.W. Stokesbury2006 37
(Flescher and Martini 2002). Greenland sharks have been recorded from the
shallows to depths in excess of 2200 m and display an ambient water
temperature tolerance from approximately -1.5 (Skomal and Benz 2004) to
12 ºC (Bigelow and Schroeder 1948). In the western Atlantic Ocean, they
range from waters off western Greenland (Scott and Scott 1988) in the north,
to deep waters as far south as off Georgia (Herdendorf and Berra 1995).
Thus, sea lampreys and Greenland sharks have similar vertical and horizon-
tal distributions and there is the potential for interaction between these
species. As it is unknown if the sea lamprey reported on here was feeding on
the shark to which it was attached, it remains unknown if sea lampreys use
Greenland sharks as a food resource.
Acknowledgments
Diving was performed by S. Sirois, J.-Y. Forest, and C. Beaudoin under the
supervision of J. Gallant.
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... Marine parasitic juvenile Sea Lamprey in the western North Atlantic have been observed on megafaunal hosts including teleosts Schroder 1953, Perlmutter 1962), cetaceans (Nichols and Hamilton 2004, Nichols and Tscherter 2011, Samarra et al. 2011, and selachians (Gallant at al. 2006, Jensen and Schwartz 1994, Wilkie et al. 2004). The occurrence of Sea Lamprey on selachians is noteworthy because the skin of sharks is covered with placoid scales (or dermal denticles). ...
... Our observation coupled with those of Michael (1993), Jensen et al. (1998), and Gallant et al. (2006) suggests that when a Sea Lamprey does adhere to a shark, the region of the cloaca is a common point of attachment. This may be because the placoid scales of that region do not exhibit the same roughness as elsewhere on the body, as has been demonstrated in several shark species (Ankheli et al. 2018, Sayles andHershkowitz 1937). ...
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... Because metamorphosis is a non-trophic (nonfeeding) phase, energy is primarily provided by the lipid reserves accumulated during the larval phase (Lowe et al., 1973;Kao et al., 1997). Following metamorphosis, juvenile sea lampreys ingest large quantitities of protein-rich blood from large salmonid fishes, other game fishes, sturgeons, as well as sharks and even cetaceans in marine environments (Bigelow and Schroeder, 1948;Beamish and Potter, 1975;Jensen and Schwartz, 1994;Wilkie et al., 2004Wilkie et al., , 2006Gallant et al., 2006;Nichols and Hamilton, 2004;Renaud et al., 2009). The rate of blood ingestion by parasitic juvenile sea lampreys is typically 3-10% of their total body mass per day, but may approach 30% in the latter part of the parasitic life stage (Farmer et al., 1975;Farmer, 1980). ...
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Biology of the North American Anadromous Sea Lamprey, Petromyzon marinus
Article
The sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) in the western Atlantic Ocean adjacent to North America is usually found within a depth of 200 m between latitudes of 30 and 53°. Spawning size lampreys have been recorded in 116 rivers between 32 and 48° latitude. The upstream spawning migration which may extend to several hundred kilometres, takes place between March and September, the actual time varying directly with latitude. Fecundity of the anadromous P. marinus (approximately 124 000–305 000) is the highest for any lamprey species. Energy requirements for migration and reproduction are discussed in the context of parental investment. The larval phase lasts 6–8 yr and is followed by a highly synchronous period of metamorphosis. On completion of metamorphosis in late autumn some juveniles migrate downstream to the estuary or ocean and commence feeding. In at least some rivers, a portion of the young juveniles overwinter in the natal stream without feeding. Subsequent to a short feeding period in May these young juveniles leave the river for the sea. Sea lampreys attack a variety of marine elasmobranchs and teleosts. Only swordfish, Xiphias gladius, and striped bass, Roccus saxatilis, are reported to eat lampreys. During the marine interval, which lasts from 23 to 28 mo, the calculated instantaneous growth rate is 0.645–0.785 g∙d−1. Lamprey scarring frequency on Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, in the St. John River, New Brunswick, increased from 2.6 to 15.0% between 1972 and 1975 coincident with a dramatic rise in the number of migrant salmonids. Scars were most prevalent on larger salmon, particularly females. Most scars were recorded on the right side of salmon, particularly in the ventral regions.Key words: sea lamprey, Atlantic Ocean, distribution, life cycle, growth, energetics, fecundity
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