| Rare metre-long ‘vampire fish’ spotted at Diglis Fish Pass | |
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This is the moment a rare sea lamprey was spotted swimming through a Worcester fish pass for the first time this year.
The eel-like creature, which is over a metre in length, was spotted at the Diglis Fish Pass on Tuesday night (April 11).
Sea lampreys, which are also known as vampire fish, are parasitic animals that attach themselves to the skin of a fish to feed on its blood. |
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They have long eel-like bodies and round, sucker-like mouths with circular rows of sharp teeth.
Lampreys live in seas and lakes but migrate up rivers to spawn, something many fish have struggled to do in the River Severn because of navigation weirs installed in Victorian times.
This is exactly why the Diglis Fish Pass was built. |
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