Comments on: Sympathy for the Lamprey http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html Brain candy for Happy Mutants Thu, 20 Jun 2013 01:15:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614921 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614921 maybe an obstetric view of a unicorn could chase that image away. maybe an obstetric view of a unicorn could chase that image away.

]]> By: bjacques http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614922 bjacques Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614922 It's the singing lamprey from LARD! The Power...of LARD! It’s the singing lamprey from LARD!

The Power…of LARD!

]]> By: Ambiguity http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614424 Ambiguity Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614424 <blockquote>I'm not trying to be vulgar, but you have to admit- it looks like a vagina full of teeth. There's even some sort of formation at the top of the head that could resemble a clitoris.</blockquote> Gee, uh... thanks for pointing that out.

I’m not trying to be vulgar, but you have to admit- it looks like a vagina full of teeth. There’s even some sort of formation at the top of the head that could resemble a clitoris.

Gee, uh… thanks for pointing that out.

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-615209 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-615209 <i> You know those old wives tales about how vagina have teeth to ward men off from raping girls (among many other old myths to also achieve the same idea). That was my first reaction to the picture...I'm not trying to be vulgar, but you have to admit- it looks like a vagina full of teeth. There's even some sort of formation at the top of the head that could resemble a clitoris. Nature is strange. </i> As if I didn't have enough problems (i.e. 1. finding a woman who I liked who liked me, 2. finding said woman would have sexual intercourse with me, 3. be able to achieve/and maintain a erection for said intercourse.) you through this mental handicap in the way! You know those old wives tales about how vagina have teeth to ward men off from raping girls (among many other old myths to also achieve the same idea). That was my first reaction to the picture…I’m not trying to be vulgar, but you have to admit- it looks like a vagina full of teeth. There’s even some sort of formation at the top of the head that could resemble a clitoris. Nature is strange.

As if I didn’t have enough problems (i.e. 1. finding a woman who I liked who liked me, 2. finding said woman would have sexual intercourse with me, 3. be able to achieve/and maintain a erection for said intercourse.) you through this mental handicap in the way!

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614220 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614220 Oh. My. God. It's a Sarlac. Oh. My. God.

It’s a Sarlac.

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614225 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614225 God gives nuts to people without teeth... Lamprey are the most expensive and apreciated delicacy you can find in the rivers of Portugal. Every year I DREAM with the spring months, so that I can feast with some "Lamprey's rice" or "Bordalesa Lamprey". The singularity of the taste of a well prepared lamprey is comparable to that of Trufles or Caviar... My fellow americans, don't poison Lamprey's... Eat them! :) God gives nuts to people without teeth…

Lamprey are the most expensive and apreciated delicacy you can find in the rivers of Portugal. Every year I DREAM with the spring months, so that I can feast with some “Lamprey’s rice” or “Bordalesa Lamprey”.
The singularity of the taste of a well prepared lamprey is comparable to that of Trufles or Caviar…

My fellow americans, don’t poison Lamprey’s… Eat them! :)

]]> By: gerta http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614233 gerta Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614233 Please don't call them prehistoric. They're no more prehistoric than we -- only their ancestors (like ours, including the one we share with lampreys) are prehistoric. But I agree lampreys are pretty damn cool. Too bad they get a bum rap. Please don’t call them prehistoric. They’re no more prehistoric than we — only their ancestors (like ours, including the one we share with lampreys) are prehistoric.

But I agree lampreys are pretty damn cool. Too bad they get a bum rap.

]]> By: Birdseed http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614234 Birdseed Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614234 I love lampreys! They taste really interesting, very different from other fish. In northern Sweden river lampreys are fished, smoked, and then cooked with cream to make a gorgeous and very unusual dish. I love lampreys! They taste really interesting, very different from other fish. In northern Sweden river lampreys are fished, smoked, and then cooked with cream to make a gorgeous and very unusual dish.

]]> By: JMG http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614235 JMG Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614235 I did some Ice Diving on Lake Champlain in Vermont years ago. During the winter, under the ice, the fish are sluggish enough that you can easily reach out and grab them; as such, we did our part to combat what we were told were <a href="http://www.princeton.edu/~jguberma/icediving/icediving-Images/7.jpg">invasive lampreys</a> by pulling them off the fish and taking them out of the water (and we also <a href="http://www.princeton.edu/~jguberma/icediving/icediving-Images/8.jpg">had a little fun</a> with the suckers - pun intended). Reading this, I hope they weren't native lampreys, but I suppose our local divemasters probably knew what they were talking about. I did some Ice Diving on Lake Champlain in Vermont years ago. During the winter, under the ice, the fish are sluggish enough that you can easily reach out and grab them; as such, we did our part to combat what we were told were invasive lampreys by pulling them off the fish and taking them out of the water (and we also had a little fun with the suckers – pun intended). Reading this, I hope they weren’t native lampreys, but I suppose our local divemasters probably knew what they were talking about.

]]> By: Talia http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614240 Talia Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614240 I am going to have nightmares forever after that picture. Its good to know I can always count on BB for my daily dose of mental trauma! :p I am going to have nightmares forever after that picture. Its good to know I can always count on BB for my daily dose of mental trauma! :p

]]> By: an0nymous http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614245 an0nymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614245 I used to swim in Lake Michigan and these things featured prominently in several dark scenarios I had worked out in the back of the noggin. Sorry to break up the love-parade, but this shit is a Lovecraftian horror-fest. One of the few species I actually feel emnity towards. I used to swim in Lake Michigan and these things featured prominently in several dark scenarios I had worked out in the back of the noggin. Sorry to break up the love-parade, but this shit is a Lovecraftian horror-fest.
One of the few species I actually feel emnity towards.

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614250 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614250 Like the romans 1000 years ago, here in Galicia we continue to eat these delicious parasites, with rice and a dark sauce prepared with the animal´s blood. It´s really tasty! (and quite expensive). Like the romans 1000 years ago, here in Galicia we continue to eat these delicious parasites, with rice and
a dark sauce prepared with the animal´s blood. It´s really tasty! (and quite expensive).

]]> By: knodi http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614258 knodi Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614258 PETA started a campaign to rename them "Sea Ticks". Because.... nevermind. That was funnier in my head. Oh well, too late, already typed it *SUBMIT* PETA started a campaign to rename them “Sea Ticks”. Because…. nevermind. That was funnier in my head. Oh well, too late, already typed it *SUBMIT*

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614277 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614277 Gerta, can you say more about your position regarding the matter of whether or not lampreys are "prehistoric" animals? They have been around a lot longer than our species. http://uwnews.org/article.asp?articleID=50970 "Biologists are interested in the sea lamprey partly because of its alternating lifestyles, but largely because it represents a living fossil from around the time vertebrates originated. Close relatives of sea lampreys were on earth before the dinosaurs. It's possible that the sea lamprey's dynamic genome biology might someday be traced back in evolutionary history to a point near, and perhaps including, a common ancestor of all vertebrates living today, the authors of the study noted." Gerta, can you say more about your position regarding the matter of whether or not lampreys are “prehistoric” animals? They have been around a lot longer than our species.

http://uwnews.org/article.asp?articleID=50970

“Biologists are interested in the sea lamprey partly because of its alternating lifestyles, but largely because it represents a living fossil from around the time vertebrates originated. Close relatives of sea lampreys were on earth before the dinosaurs. It’s possible that the sea lamprey’s dynamic genome biology might someday be traced back in evolutionary history to a point near, and perhaps including, a common ancestor of all vertebrates living today, the authors of the study noted.”

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614279 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614279 @BirdSee In Galicia we cook (in its own blood)[1] and eat lampreys too. [1] http://www.spain.info/TourSpain/Gastronomia/Productos%20y%20Recetas/Recetas/M/0/Lamprea%20del%20Mino%20%28bordelesa%20en%20su%20sangre%29 @BirdSee In Galicia we cook (in its own blood)[1] and eat lampreys too.

[1] http://www.spain.info/TourSpain/Gastronomia/Productos%20y%20Recetas/Recetas/M/0/Lamprea%20del%20Mino%20%28bordelesa%20en%20su%20sangre%29

]]> By: Snig http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614280 Snig Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614280 They need to make a Disney movie featuring a local lamprey as the hero, only then will they be loved. Lovecraftian is right, they do give one the heebies. They need to make a Disney movie featuring a local lamprey as the hero, only then will they be loved. Lovecraftian is right, they do give one the heebies.

]]> By: ROSSINDETROIT http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614286 ROSSINDETROIT Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614286 I've fished the Great Lakes and have seen the horrible damage that the parasitic ones can do to a salmon or lake trout. It's an image you can't un-see. OTOH, invasive alewife fish are cute. For Christmas I bought the family coat pins made from dried alewives cast in acrylic. If you're from the Mitten State you get that one. I’ve fished the Great Lakes and have seen the horrible damage that the parasitic ones can do to a salmon or lake trout. It’s an image you can’t un-see.
OTOH, invasive alewife fish are cute. For Christmas I bought the family coat pins made from dried alewives cast in acrylic. If you’re from the Mitten State you get that one.

]]> By: Darwindr http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614296 Darwindr Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614296 Great story Maggie, sorry we are picking apart your phrases, but evolution is really hard to write about while avoiding inaccurate statements, but... Technically all living things with backbones are "descendants of some of Earth's first vertebrates". And I second Gerta's comment about prehistoric. Their basic morphology hasn't changed much, but they have continued to evolve. They don't even really qualify as living fossils since there are so many kinds. An evolutionary biologist would call them plesiomorphic. Let's just call their appearance old and freaky-lookin. Great story Maggie, sorry we are picking apart your phrases, but evolution is really hard to write about while avoiding inaccurate statements, but…

Technically all living things with backbones are “descendants of some of Earth’s first vertebrates”. And I second Gerta’s comment about prehistoric. Their basic morphology hasn’t changed much, but they have continued to evolve. They don’t even really qualify as living fossils since there are so many kinds. An evolutionary biologist would call them plesiomorphic.

Let’s just call their appearance old and freaky-lookin.

]]> By: Allegra http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614299 Allegra Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614299 Lampreys can be pests, or they can be an endangered species. This species of vegetarian Lamprey grows in one watershed on Vancouver Island, in BC., and is a wonderful poke in the eye for creationists because it's speciating right frikkin' now. More deets on the Morrison Creek Lamprey at the link. http://epleasures.startlogic.com/morrisoncreek/?page_id=34 Lampreys can be pests, or they can be an endangered species. This species of vegetarian Lamprey grows in one watershed on Vancouver Island, in BC., and is a wonderful poke in the eye for creationists because it’s speciating right frikkin’ now. More deets on the Morrison Creek Lamprey at the link.

http://epleasures.startlogic.com/morrisoncreek/?page_id=34

]]> By: Maggie Koerth-Baker http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614311 Maggie Koerth-Baker Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614311 That's fair. The wording isn't getting across quite what I wanted it to--and is getting across something inaccurate. I'll play with some edits here in a little bit. Thanks! That’s fair. The wording isn’t getting across quite what I wanted it to–and is getting across something inaccurate. I’ll play with some edits here in a little bit.

Thanks!

]]> By: danlalan http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614319 danlalan Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614319 <i>Please don't call them prehistoric.</i> Until lampreys start writing history, they're all prehistoric. ;-) Please don’t call them prehistoric.

Until lampreys start writing history, they’re all prehistoric. ;-)

]]> By: Karl Jones http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614321 Karl Jones Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614321 "If I come back as an animal in my next lifetime, I hope it's some type of parasite, because this is the part where I take it EASY!" - Jack Handey “If I come back as an animal in my next lifetime, I hope it’s some type of parasite, because this is the part where I take it EASY!”

- Jack Handey

]]> By: edans http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614325 edans Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614325 Heyyy, that's my picture! Who would have told that poor, captive lamprey in the Balneario de Mondariz (Galicia, Spain) that it was going to reach such a milestone in web fame!! A great honor to see one of my pictures featured in Boing Boing, and thanks a lot for the proper credit. A nice case to illustrate the value of Creative Commons licenses ;-) Heyyy, that’s my picture! Who would have told that poor, captive lamprey in the Balneario de Mondariz (Galicia, Spain) that it was going to reach such a milestone in web fame!!

A great honor to see one of my pictures featured in Boing Boing, and thanks a lot for the proper credit. A nice case to illustrate the value of Creative Commons licenses ;-)

]]> By: desiredusername http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614326 desiredusername Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614326 Hmm..thanks for pointing me in this direction. What I have learned since you posted is very interesting. Lampreys are not considered true fish but rather a taxon of jawless "fishes" most of which are extinct, called Cephalaspidomorphs. This placement among an extinct taxon group from the Silurian and Devonian eras also places them as the only known extension of that extinct group into the present day. Perhaps that is where the "prehistoric" qualifier came from. It is also one of the few organisms that we have the complete genome sequence for. We have been sequencing organisms based upon either their economic value, or in this case their scientific value. In the case of the sea lamprey it is the insights into the evolution of the adaptive immune system that has created genomic curiosity. Thanks for the lamprey awareness, Maggie. Hmm..thanks for pointing me in this direction. What I have learned since you posted is very interesting.

Lampreys are not considered true fish but rather a taxon of jawless “fishes” most of which are extinct, called Cephalaspidomorphs. This placement among an extinct taxon group from the Silurian and Devonian eras also places them as the only known extension of that extinct group into the present day. Perhaps that is where the “prehistoric” qualifier came from.

It is also one of the few organisms that we have the complete genome sequence for. We have been sequencing organisms based upon either their economic value, or in this case their scientific value. In the case of the sea lamprey it is the insights into the evolution of the adaptive immune system that has created genomic curiosity.

Thanks for the lamprey awareness, Maggie.

]]> By: Brainspore http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614328 Brainspore Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614328 The vast majority of organisms on earth are parasites. Parasitic lampreys just get a bad rap because they don't have the common decency to stay out of sight. Life is icky! The vast majority of organisms on earth are parasites. Parasitic lampreys just get a bad rap because they don’t have the common decency to stay out of sight. Life is icky!

]]> By: Moriarty http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614341 Moriarty Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614341 For a weirdo species that looks like a terrible ancient alien but is actually totally harmless, I like horseshoe crabs. In addition to their appearance, they're cool in other ways, like having copper-based blood, the ability to heal after ridiculously catastrophic injuries, and, like lampreys, they are ridiculously old: almost completely unchanged in the last 230 million years (and having the same general form for 440 million). For a weirdo species that looks like a terrible ancient alien but is actually totally harmless, I like horseshoe crabs. In addition to their appearance, they’re cool in other ways, like having copper-based blood, the ability to heal after ridiculously catastrophic injuries, and, like lampreys, they are ridiculously old: almost completely unchanged in the last 230 million years (and having the same general form for 440 million).

]]> By: thorn http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614354 thorn Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614354 My favorite ever museum placard copy came from a Great Lakes Fisheries Exhibit at the Bell Museum in Minneapolis, which I last saw in about 1988. "The sea lamprey is a large, eel-like fish, with a mouth on it that could suck the chrome off a trailer hitch." My favorite ever museum placard copy came from a Great Lakes Fisheries Exhibit at the Bell Museum in Minneapolis, which I last saw in about 1988.

“The sea lamprey is a large, eel-like fish, with a mouth on it that could suck the chrome off a trailer hitch.”

]]> By: edans http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614361 edans Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614361 By the way, lampreys in Galicia are usually prepared "a la bordelesa" (Bordeaux style), cooked in their own blood. Heavy stuff only suitable for a highly tolerant stomach, but definitely worth tasting... By the way, lampreys in Galicia are usually prepared “a la bordelesa” (Bordeaux style), cooked in their own blood. Heavy stuff only suitable for a highly tolerant stomach, but definitely worth tasting…

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614363 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614363 As an immunologist, I find lampreys to be fascinating. http://blogs.sciencemag.org/origins/2009/05/the-lampreys-alternative-immun.html As an immunologist, I find lampreys to be fascinating.

http://blogs.sciencemag.org/origins/2009/05/the-lampreys-alternative-immun.html

]]> By: Moriarty http://boingboing.net/2009/10/16/sympathy-for-the-lam.html#comment-614366 Moriarty Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-614366 Fun fact from Wikipedia: Henry I's official cause of death was eating too many lampreys. Fun fact from Wikipedia: Henry I’s official cause of death was eating too many lampreys.

]]>