The Miller Lake lamprey (''Entosphenus minimus'') is a species of

lamprey Lampreys (sometimes inaccurately called lamprey eels) are an ancient extant lineage of jawless fish of the order Petromyzontiformes , placed in the superclass Cyclostomata. The adult lamprey may be characterized by a toothed, funnel-like s ...

in the

Petromyzontidae The northern lampreys (Petromyzontidae) are a family of lampreys. Northern lampreys have the highest number of chromosomes (164–174) among vertebrates. Genera * '' Caspiomyzon'' * '' Entosphenus'' * ''Eudontomyzon'' * ''Ichthyomyzon'' * ''La ...

family

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the United States. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is the Miller Lake drainage in the state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. This species is of special interest because it has an extremely limited distribution, with all known animals contained within a single small drainage system and it is the smallest known parasitic lamprey in the world. The Miller lake lamprey was presumed extinct in 1958, after state fishery managers attempted to eradicate the lamprey from the lake because it was feeding on the introduced trout.Miller, R. R., J. D. Williams, and J. E. Williams. 1989. Extinctions of North American Fishes During the Past Century. Fisheries 14:22-38. The known larval streams for this lamprey were treated with lampricide and a barrier was erected to prevent adults from entering to spawn. The Miller Lake lamprey was presumed to be extinct until 1992, when it was collected again. Continued collection efforts yielded more animals, and in 2000, the group published a paper on the redescription of this lamprey. In an attempt to restore and protect the Miller Lake lamprey, restoration efforts to remove the barrier originally have been carried out, and surveys are done regularly to establish an understanding of the population's health.http://www.dfw.state.or.us/fish/CRP/docs/miller_lake_lamprey/miller_lake_lamprey_surveys_0804.pdf Understanding how evolutionary forces could drive

speciation Speciation is the evolutionary process by which populations evolve to become distinct species. The biologist Orator F. Cook coined the term in 1906 for cladogenesis, the splitting of lineages, as opposed to anagenesis, phyletic evolution within ...

of a dwarf parasitic species of lamprey is a potential new area of research for scientists.

References

* Fauna of the United States Petromyzontidae Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Fish described in 1973 {{jawless-fish-stub