DNA Analysis Confirms Ancient Lamprey Fish Still Exists in Greece

FRI Researchers looking for Caspiomyzon hellenicus astatine Tenagi of Philippi. Credit: FRI via APE (Athens News Agency)

Researchers successful bluish Greece person precocious discovered a uncommon and critically endangered past food taxon that has survived for astatine slightest 360 cardinal years, the Greek lamprey.

The Greek lamprey (Caspiomyzon hellenicus, oregon “Gavohelo” successful Greek, which means “blind eel”), besides commonly known arsenic the Greek brook lamprey, has been recovered successful the moving waters of the Philippi Peatland (Tenagi of Philippi) adjacent Kavala successful East Macedonia. It is simply a unsighted food that looks much similar a worm and is lone a fewer centimeters long. This food lives person to stream beds. Researchers notation to it arsenic a “treasure” for the biodiversity of the area.

A uncommon species, the Greek lamprey, yet spotted

A Fisheries Research Institute (FIR) squad had been moving successful the country of Tenagi of Philippi, a earthy landmark with humanities value of millions of years, since 2023, studying the marine fauna. They utilized eDNA (Environmental DNA) investigation and different much accepted probe methods that led them to the find of the Greek lamprey’s existence.

“We brushwood Caspiomyzon hellenicus successful 2 different areas of Greece beyond Tenagi,” Dr. Argyris Sapounides told the Athens-Macedonia News Agency (AMNA). “It’s a precise uncommon taxon and it’s hard to find it since it lives wrong the bottommost of the rivers, yet its beingness is an indicator of the bully condition of the ecosystem successful the country since it requires cleanable waters successful bid to survive.”

Caspiomyzon hellenicus, besides known arsenic Greek Lamprey fish, collected by FRI researchers astatine Tenagi of Philippoi. Credit: FRI via APE (Athens News Agency)

The fascinating beingness and decease of the past Greek lamprey fish

The Greek lamprey belongs to an past taxon of vertebrates, mostly referred to arsenic lampreys. It is portion of organisms that person not developed, yet person a singular mode of survival. According to Sapounides, this endemic food taxon has a beingness span that does not grow beyond 5 years.

He further added:

“It ever stays successful the bottommost of the stream and lone its caput sticks out. It eats passively since it’s lasting against the existent of the river. Imagine its rima arsenic a funnel, which withholds assorted micro-organisms that are being carried distant by the current. Only towards the extremity of his beingness it acquires concisely immoderate vision, it comes retired of the bottommost of the rives and moves towards immoderate vegetation to laic its eggs and past die.”

Humans arsenic its main enemy

As with each critically endangered species, researchers pass that quality activities are the biggest menace to the endurance of the Greek lamprey, which during FRI’s probe was mostly recovered successful the Aggitis River. The contamination of rivers oregon adjacent the shingle up of the sediment during a clean-up tin beryllium lethal for this food species.

During their enactment successful Tenagi of Philippi, researchers from the Fisheries Research Institute besides studied a fig of different food taxon surviving successful the area, including 2 endangered ones. All fish, aft the survey was completed, were returned to their earthy habitat.