Norwegian record Sea lamprey: 1 kg

About Sea lamprey

The sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) is Norway's largest lamprey. It can reach about 1 m, though adults are usually 50–80 cm and 1–2.5 kg. It has an eel-like body with no paired fins, seven gill openings behind the eye and a round sucking mouth lined with rings of horny teeth. The back is olive-yellow to brown with bold black marbling, and the belly is pale. Adults spend two to five years at sea, clinging to fish such as cod, salmon and even basking sharks, rasping through the skin and feeding on blood and tissue. They then run up larger rivers to spawn, in Norway mainly from May to July. Eggs are laid in a gravel nest, and the adults die after spawning. The larvae live buried in mud for four to six years. In Norway it occurs in larger rivers, most often from the Swedish border to central Norway. Norwegian Red List 2021: Near Threatened (NT).

Sources: Artsdatabanken, Store norske leksikon, Wikipedia

• Habitat: Saltvann

See the species guide

Biggest Sea lamprey in FishComp

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How to register a Norwegian record

1. Norwegian sport-fishing records are registered with Villmarksliv, not with FishComp. Read the rules before you do anything else with the fish.
2. Records are based on weight and approved by a jury. You give the weight and length, where it was caught, the gear you used and any witnesses.
3. Keep your photos and notes from the catch. Logging it in FishComp does not register a record.