Mordacia praecox

Non-parasitic lamprey
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Cephalaspidomorphi
Order:	Petromyzontiformes
Family:	Petromyzontidae
Subfamily:	Mordaciinae
Genus:	Mordacia
Species:	M. praecox
Binomial name
Mordacia praecox Potter, 1968

Mordacia praecox, the non-parasitic lamprey, is a freshwater species of lamprey that occurs in south-eastern Australia. It has a thin eel-like body around 12 to 15 cm long, with two low dorsal fins on the back half. The skin is dark blue above and gray below. Its eyes are small, and located on the top of its head.

The non-parasitic lamprey is known only from the Moroya and Tuross Rivers in southern New South Wales. Unlike most other species of lamprey, it spends its entire life in fresh water. The ammocoetes (lamprey larvae) take around three years to reach maturity. Ammocoetes and juvenile adults are indistinguishable from Mordacia mordax, which also occurs within its distribution, but the adults are easily distinguished by their size and colouration.

References

• Wager (1996). Mordacia praecox. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Listed as Vulnerable (VU D2 v2.3)
• Allen, Gerald R. (1989). Freshwater Fishes of Australia. T.F.H. Publications. 
• "Mordacia praecox". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=159748. Retrieved 16 April 2006. 
• Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2006). "Mordacia praecox" in FishBase. 4 2006 version.