The Cultural, Ecological, and Scientific Importance of Lampreys

Although their reputation has been tarnished in recent years by Sea Lamprey in the Great Lakes, lampreys have historically been greatly appreciated—from a culinary, cultural, ecological, and scientific point of view.  Lampreys were highly regarded as food by the English upper classes since medieval times, and long before that, by the ancient Romans, the Maori, and Native Americans.  Lampreys are known to play important ecological roles at all stages of their life cycle, and their scientific value has also been long appreciated.  Early scientists (including Sigmund Freud) studied the anatomy of these ancient vertebrates, and considerable research in support of Sea Lamprey control greatly increased our knowledge of lamprey ecology and physiology.  Recently, however, lampreys have started getting even more widespread attention.  Lampreys are providing important and promising model systems in our quest to better understand the early evolutionary history of the vertebrates—particularly given the recent publication of the Sea Lamprey genome—and their increasing use in biomedical research is providing insights into treatment for people suffering from blood coagulation disorders, biliary atresia, hemochromatosis, and spinal cord injuries.  In this talk, I will provide a broad overview of the growing importance of this previously underappreciated group of fishes.