Volume 39, Plate XXXIII / Ichthyology (Fish)

Lamprey & Pride, or Mud Lamprey

Pteromyzon marinus & Ammocœtes branchialis

1. The Lamprey. The most conspicuous member of its family, the Lamprey somewhat resembles the Muraena, measuring two to three feet, thick and cylindrical, yellowish brown or greenish and marbled with dusky. Frequent in the principal rivers of the three kingdoms and especially abundant in the Severn, it is migratory, residing in the ocean in winter and ascending rivers in spring to shed its roe, feeding on animal matter and adhering to other fishes by its suctorial mouth.
2. Pride, or Mud Lamprey. A small fish from six to eight inches long and about the thickness of a swan’s quill, the Pride buries itself in the mud and is not rare in English rivers with a muddy bottom, having also been observed in the Forth, Tweed, and some Irish rivers. Its English name derives from Pridgavel, a rent anciently paid by tenants of the manor of Rodeley for the liberty of fishing for lampreys in the river Severn.