Latin name: Entosphenus minimus
The Miller Lake Lamprey is the smallest parasitic/predatory lamprey in the world. When first described by the late Professor Carl Bond, it was thought to be extinct because of poisoning of Miller Lake. Work with an undergraduate, Chris Lorion, and other colleagues in 2000 showed it was more widespread but still absent from Miller Lake. A State Conservation Plan was created in 2004 and in 2010 we re-introduced the species to Miller Lake. The relatively small area of upper Klamath Basin, Oregon, has a diverse lamprey fauna with five named species: two nonparasitic forms (Lampetra lethophaga and Lampetrafolletti), and three parasitic forms (Lampetra similis, a nonanadromous form of Lampetra tridentata, and a species thought to be extinct). The dwarfed, parasitic Miller Lake Lamprey, Lampetra minima, was exterminated by chemical treatment of Miller Lake in 1958 (Bond and Kan, 1973).
Did you know? Miller lake lamprey are the smallest parasitic/predatory lamprey in the world.
Lorion, C, D. F. Markle, S. Reid, and M. Docker 2000. Re-description of the presumed-extinct Miller Lake lamprey, Lampetra minima. Copeia, 2000 (4): 1019-1028.
Miller lake Lamprey Plan