CRITTERS OF NORTH IDAHO: The Pacific lamprey

Despite its appearance, this little water-dwelling creature isn’t a mutant snake or worm. Instead, scientists classify the Pacific lamprey (Lampetra tridentate) as a fish, even though it lacks many of the features we generally associate with fish. It has no fins along the sides of its body, no scales and no jaws. Before you swear to never step foot in Idaho’s water sources again, rest assured that these terrifying-looking fish are quite small, generally no bigger than 30 inches from head to tail.