Author: (Richardson, 1846)
FBname: Shorthead lamprey
Comments: Adults inhabit the sea for an undetermined period and are parasitic on fishes; enter freshwater to breed.  Majority of adulthood is spent in estuaries or at sea.  Upstream spawning migrants occur in fast-flowing sections of rivers with a mud, sand or silt substrate, sometimes seen congregated below barriers to upstream movement such as weirs.  Ammocoetes live in slow-flowing streams, burrowed in mud or silt.  Common length is 35-40 cm (Ref. 44894).  Larval life is 3.5 yrs.  During the spawning migration, adults burrow in the substrate of rivers during the day and migrate upstream during the night. Fecundity, 3,789-13,372 eggs/female.  De Castelnau (1872) states that the adults from the lower Yarra River, Victoria, are considered good food (Ref. 89241).