Abnormal tooth development in a sea lamprey

Sea lampreys en route to their spawning grounds have been captured at mechanical or electrical structures that have been in operation for 1 to 27 spawning seasons (1949-75) on some 167 tributaries of the upper Great Lakes; more than 750,000 were taken in 1949-70 (Smith 1971). Among these lampreys (all of which were routinely examined at the time of capture) was one female (length, 434 mm; weight, 130 g) with markedly underdeveloped teeth. It was captured in May 1968 at an electrical barrier in the Ocqueoc River, a Michigan tributary of Lake Huron