Lamprey (Lampetra fluviatilis and Lampetra planeri) ammocoete habitat associations at regional, catchment and microhabitat scales in Northern Ireland

Abstract

– Habitat characteristics associated with lamprey ammocoetes (Lampetra spp.) were investigated at three different spatial scales: regional (Northern Ireland), catchment (Ballinderry River) and microhabitat. At the regional scale, ammocoetes were more abundant in rivers with a pH ≥8.2, while within a catchment, abundance was negatively related to the number of potential lamprey barriers and distance upstream. At the microhabitat scale, at sites where ammocoetes were present, ammocoetes were more abundant where median phi ≥1.94 (very coarse sand), where sediment depth ≥11.5 cm, and where kurtosis was >1.71. This study provides information on habitat associations of lamprey in the UK which may be of use in their conservation, in particular it highlights the negative association of migration barriers with lamprey abundance.

From shallow to deep waters: habitats used by larval lampreys (genus Petromyzon and Lampetra) over a western European basin

“…Total sampling area was relatively low (90.5 m 2 ), compared with parcels investigated by Torgersen & Close (2004), Stone & Barndt (2005) and Goodwin et al (2008) (between 360 and 720 m 2 ). Indeed, cross-validation estimates of predictive performances for the sea lamprey model had 'erratic' trend, meaning that final value strongly responded to the randomly determined subsamples composition.…”

Influence of macrohabitat preferences on the distribution of European brook and river lampreys: Implications for conservation and management

“…Distance to coast is also related with the probability of presence of barriers which augments with the increasing distance from the river mouth and prevent the reproductive migration. The presence of barriers to migration was one of the parameters considered by Goodwin et al (2008) as determinant in the distribution of the genus Lampetra. Although L. planeri adults do not migrate out of rivers to feed they perform small upstream movements to find suitable spawning areas (Hardisty and Potter, 1971), so this species also requires clear migration routes, albeit over considerably shorter distances than the anadromous L. fluviatilis (Goodwin et al, 2008).…”

“…The identification of the environmental factors that constrain the presence of Lampetra sp. is an important tool in the selection of suitable sites for designation (Goodwin et al, 2008). This information is particularly important to predict species distribution.…”

A new sampling technique for larval lamprey population assessment in small river catchments

“…These values are within the range obtained in other quantitative studies in Europe although these studies were carried out in various river contexts, with contrasting protocols and various timing (e.g. Nunn et al, 2008;Goodwin et al, 2008;Kainua and Valtonen, 1980). Point abundance sampling of ammocoetes by electrofishing did not appear to be an efficient method.…”