Research Document - 2007/043
Conservation Status Report for Silver Lamprey (Ichthyomyzon unicuspis) in Canada
By Neave, F.B., G.A. Bravener and N.E. Mandrak
Abstract
The silver lamprey (Ichthyomyzon unicuspis) is an eel-like parasitic fish native to parts of central and eastern Canada. It has not yet undergone a COSEWIC evaluation, and this report acts as a pre-COSEWIC assessment to facilitate any potential required conservation efforts. The silver lamprey has two designatable units, the Great Lakes-Upper St. Lawrence area, and the Saskatchewan-Nelson River area. This report analyzes the current and historical distributions, discusses habitat requirements and trends, provides general biological information about adults and ammocoetes, examines population sizes and trends, and lists threats to the species. General trends for this species are: stable extent of occurrence, stable area of occupancy and populations, and stable to increasing total population over the last three generations. However, due to a lack of directed survey effort, very little is known about the Saskatchewan-Nelson River population. Complicating assessment of this species is the inability to distinguish the larvae of silver lamprey from northern brook lamprey larvae, along with an inability to differentiate these two species using genetic analyses.
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