Is it an eel? Is it a vampire fish? No, it’s a brook lamprey!

An exciting discovery by Griffith University ecologist Dr Luke Carpenter-Bundhoo has been found in a freshwater creek at K’gari. The Endangered Australian brook lamprey (Mordacia praecox) was a surprise find in Queensland’s waterways with researchers previously believing that lamprey species only lived in cool climates.

“They were such an unusual find in this part of the world that we had a lot of trouble convincing the experts that they were actually a resident and not just occurrences from individuals swimming up from down south,” principal scientist at Queensland’s Department of Environment, Science and Innovation, David Moffatt, said.

Lampreys are generally parasitic and known as ‘vampire fish’, but the Australia brook lampreys do not have the parasitic feeding phase, thus aptly named the ‘vegan Dracula of lampreys’. 

The importance of these mini eel-like creatures, now localised in our more tropical climate, provides insights into various human medicine possibilities, including treatment options for babies with jaundice and biliary atresia, a condition in infants who haven’t had their liver processes switched on yet.

Although not the prettiest of species, new discoveries such as this are rare and wonderful, where research on such ancient creatures can be used for advancements in human medicine.

Luke and David recently published a paper on the species titled Expanding the known range and practical conservation issues of the Endangered Australian brook lamprey Mordacia praecox which has been published in Endangered Species Research, Vol. 53: 547–553, https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01319.

Adapted from an article by the Department of Environment, Science and Innovation