A bizarre fish known for its round sucker-like mouth full of teeth may be making a comeback in the American River that runs through the Sacramento area.
CBS Sacramento reports local divers spotted two pacific lamprey, also known as vampire fish, in the river that runs for 30 miles from the Sierra Nevada mountains to the Sacramento River this week.
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While the fish is native to California and the American River, experts say the species seemed to disappear from the river for some time. Recent data suggests populations of the Pacific lamprey have fallen in many river drainages in the U.S.
Local diver Karl Bly spotted the two creatures Tuesday.
“It looks like some sea creature from the deep,” Bly, who has explored the river for four decades, told CBS Sacramento.
“I’ve captured sea lions, river otters, crawdads, and lots of crazy things,” he said.
“They would be high up there as a rare fish,” he added.
The eel-like fish are parasitic, have no scales and are equipped with breathing holes instead of gills. They are born in freshwater and migrate to the ocean before returning to rivers to have their young.
They’ve earned the name ‘vampire fish’ as they will attach themselves to sharks, dolphins or whales and feed off the nutrients of the animals.
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