sea lamprey
noun
: a large anadromous lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) that has a mottled upper surface, is an ectoparasite of fish, and is sometimes used as food
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Native to the Atlantic Ocean, the sea lamprey has survived four mass extinctions over 350 million years, Shaw said. 
Peter Krouse, cleveland, 7 July 2022 Lake Michigan was barely recovering from an onslaught of invasive species, including the sea lamprey which had devastated the populations of the two top native predator fish, the lake trout and burbot. Paul A. Smith, Journal Sentinel, 3 July 2022 Like other invasive species such as the sea lamprey, the alewife swam into the Great Lakes after the Welland Canal was built to allow shipping transport around Niagara Falls. Paul A. Smith, Journal Sentinel, 8 June 2022 As native lake trout and burbot were decimated in Lake Michigan by overfishing, pollution and sea lamprey parasitism through the early and mid-1900s, alewife numbers soared. Paul A. Smith, Journal Sentinel, 8 June 2022 Controlling and eradicating invasive species in the Great Lakes — where vampiric sea lamprey once sucked the life out of fisheries and today zebra and quagga mussels reign in the hundreds of trillions — is an ongoing challenge. Morgan Greene, chicagotribune.com, 19 Jan. 2022 Lake Superior’s herring stocks fluctuate, but the lake trout have recovered nicely since a sea lamprey infestation almost decimated the fishery in the 1960s. Stephanie Pearson, Outside Online, 23 May 2017 Controlling invasive species is among the great challenges in the Great Lakes, where the bloodsucking sea lamprey once devastated fisheries, and zebra and quagga mussels have blanketed entire lakes. Morgan Greene, chicagotribune.com, 14 Dec. 2021 But the king of the lake was toppled by a nearly simultaneous invasion of the Atlantic Ocean sea lamprey, which also slithered into the lakes through the Welland Canal. Dan Egan, jsonline.com, 2 Sep. 2021 See More
Peter Krouse, cleveland, 7 July 2022 Lake Michigan was barely recovering from an onslaught of invasive species, including the sea lamprey which had devastated the populations of the two top native predator fish, the lake trout and burbot. Paul A. Smith, Journal Sentinel, 3 July 2022 Like other invasive species such as the sea lamprey, the alewife swam into the Great Lakes after the Welland Canal was built to allow shipping transport around Niagara Falls. Paul A. Smith, Journal Sentinel, 8 June 2022 As native lake trout and burbot were decimated in Lake Michigan by overfishing, pollution and sea lamprey parasitism through the early and mid-1900s, alewife numbers soared. Paul A. Smith, Journal Sentinel, 8 June 2022 Controlling and eradicating invasive species in the Great Lakes — where vampiric sea lamprey once sucked the life out of fisheries and today zebra and quagga mussels reign in the hundreds of trillions — is an ongoing challenge. Morgan Greene, chicagotribune.com, 19 Jan. 2022 Lake Superior’s herring stocks fluctuate, but the lake trout have recovered nicely since a sea lamprey infestation almost decimated the fishery in the 1960s. Stephanie Pearson, Outside Online, 23 May 2017 Controlling invasive species is among the great challenges in the Great Lakes, where the bloodsucking sea lamprey once devastated fisheries, and zebra and quagga mussels have blanketed entire lakes. Morgan Greene, chicagotribune.com, 14 Dec. 2021 But the king of the lake was toppled by a nearly simultaneous invasion of the Atlantic Ocean sea lamprey, which also slithered into the lakes through the Welland Canal. Dan Egan, jsonline.com, 2 Sep. 2021 See More Word History
First Known Use
1879, in the meaning defined above