'Blood-sucker fish' spotted in Midlands rivers

Would it make you you think twice about swimming in fresh water? The Environment Agency has confirmed that the Lamprey has been spotted in rivers after a 200 year absence.

The jawless fish, which is one of the oldest living vertebrates, has been spotted by environment experts and local fishermen after their reintroduction to the Trent and Derwent rivers in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.

Lampreys are snake-like creatures with a circular disc of razor sharp teeth instead of jaws. The largest of the UK lamprey species,the sea lamprey, can grow up to 1 metre in length.

Scientists often refer to them as a 'living fossil' as they have remained largely unchanged after evolving over 200 million years before the dinosaurs walked the Earth.

Once a common sight in our waterways, river and sea lampreys are now endangered across Europe.

The pollution caused by the Industrial Revolution, along with the construction of mill weirs that blocked their migration, had a devastating effect on their numbers.

But lampreys are slowly returning to their old habitats, thanks to the lowest levels of pollution for more than 100 years and the Environment Agency’s work to remove some river structures like weirs.

Lampreys have been regarded as a luxury food throughout history – they are recorded as being eaten by the Vikings, poached in red wine by the Romans and eaten in lamprey pie by the British monarch on special occasions.

King John is said to have fined the City of Gloucester the equivalent of £250,000 for not delivering his Christmas lamprey pie and Queen Elizabeth II was sent a lamprey pie from Gloucester for her diamond jubilee in 2012, though the fish were imported from the Great Lakes in North America.