No, this is not a new Star Wars villain. Sea lampreys are invasive fish that prey on commercially important species such as lake trout, living off of the blood and body fluids of their victims.
In December, the EPA approved and registered a sea lamprey mating pheromone to help control these invaders in the Great Lakes. The natural pheromone is a scent released by male sea lampreys to lure females onto nesting sites. A newly approved synthetic version of the scent will be manufactured as bait to trap the pests, making it the first ever vertebrate pheromone biopesticide.
Read more at http://on.doi.gov/1kGjzeP.
Photo: Sea lampreys are jawless, blood-sucking, parasitic fish threatening the Great Lakes. (Credit: Andrea Miehls, USGS)
#USGS #science #GreatLakes #sealamprey#invasivespecies
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