Mordacia mordax, Shorthead lamprey

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Mordacia mordax (Richardson, 1846)

Shorthead lamprey
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Mordacia mordax   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Mordacia mordax (Shorthead lamprey)
Mordacia mordax
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Petromyzonti (lampreys) > Petromyzontiformes (Lampreys) > Mordaciidae (Southern topeyed lampreys)
Etymology: Mordacia: Etymology not explained, likely derived from mordax (L.), biting, referring to specific name of M. mordax. (See ETYFish);  mordax: Latin for biting, perhaps referring to its parasitic behavior and/or serrated, cutting teeth. (See ETYFish).
More on author: Richardson.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; freshwater; brackish; demersal; anadromous (Ref. 89241). Temperate; 35°S - 44°S (Ref. 26213)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Southern Ocean: Southeastern Australia from Shoalhaven River, New South Wales to Gulf of St. Vincent, South Australia.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 50.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5259); common length : 37.5 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5259)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Adults: 11.3-43.2 cm TL; body proportions of pre-spawning specimens, as percentage of TL (based on 125 prespawning specimens measuring 11.3-42.1 cm TL): 8.5-11.3 prebranchial length, 7.1-9.8 branchial length, 60.4-68.3 trunk length, 14.4-20.1 tail length, 1.1-1.7 eye length and 4.9-6.6 disc length. Body proportions of spawning male specimens, as percentage of TL (based on 8 spawning males measuring 27.7-37.6 cm TL): 11.4-16.6 prebranchial length, 8.8-10.1 branchial length, 60.1-65.3 trunk length, 13.3-15.7 tail length, 8.1-11.2 disc length. Mature males with some loose skin in gular region. Urogenital papilla not prominent in mature adults; trunk myomeres, 84-96. Adult dentition: 2 triangular supraoral laminae each with 3 unicuspid teeth, 1 per apex; infraoral lamina, 7-9 unicuspid teeth of various size (these teeth become greatly enlarged with sexual maturation); 5-7 endolateral plates on either side each bearing 2-3 unicuspid teeth, usually 3; endolateral formula, typically 2-3-3-3-3-3 in immature individuals and 5-7 individual cusps on either side in mature individuals; 1 row of anterials; first row of anterials, 2 unicuspid teeth plus 1-2 bicuspid teeth or 3 unicuspid teeth flanked on either side by 1 bicuspid tooth; 1 row of exolaterals on each side; 1 row of posterials; first row of posterials, 12-14 posterial plates, the 2-4 lateralmost tricuspid and the internal ones bicuspid in immature individuals and 12-14 unicuspid teeth in mature individuals; transverse lingual lamina w-shaped, with 29 unicuspid teeth, the median one and the 2 subterminal ones slightly enlarged; longitudinal lingual laminae interrupted j-shaped, each with an undetermined number of unicuspid teeth. Velar tentacles in adults, 3-4, smooth. Body coloration (live) of immature adults brownish gray on dorsal surface and silvery on ventral surface; lateral line neuromasts darkly pigmented; caudal fin pigmentation, 25% to <75% coverage; caudal fin shape, spade-like; oral papillae, 25-45 (Ref. 89241).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Adults inhabit the sea for an undetermined period and are parasitic on fishes; enter freshwater to breed. Majority of adulthood is spent in estuaries or at sea. Upstream spawning migrants occur in fast-flowing sections of rivers with a mud, sand or silt substrate, sometimes seen congregated below barriers to upstream movement such as weirs. Ammocoetes live in slow-flowing streams, burrowed in mud or silt. Common length is 35-40 cm (Ref. 44894). Larval life is 3.5 yrs. During the spawning migration, adults burrow in the substrate of rivers during the day and migrate upstream during the night. Fecundity, 3,789-13,372 eggs/female. De Castelnau (1872) states that the adults from the lower Yarra River, Victoria, are considered good food (Ref. 89241).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Allen, G.R., 1989. Freshwater fishes of Australia. T.F.H. Publications, Inc., Neptune City, New Jersey. (Ref. 5259)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 12 February 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 14.3 - 16.8, mean 15.4 °C (based on 44 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.7500   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00102 (0.00046 - 0.00225), b=3.06 (2.88 - 3.24), in cm total length, based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.3   ±0.8 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Semelparous species, assuming tm (= tmax) > 4).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (40 of 100).