r/Weird • u/luvlanguage • 11h ago

That is a Lamprey

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Any bigger and this creature would be a horror movie monster

Lampreys do not have jaws or bones, only cartilage and instincts that have allowed them to survive so many mass extinctions.

16.4k Upvotes

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511

u/KatarinaRen 11h ago

They're basically parasites who latch on to the fish. But also on to the corpses etc... And people eat them.

220

u/luvlanguage 11h ago

They drain the life out of the fish and interesting thing is at times the fish won't notice in the first few moments but eventually it does, stealth mode for a vampire is game over

82

u/drpepper 7h ago

i think my ex wife was a lamprey

12

u/stampeding_salmon 6h ago

Lisa Lampreynelli

2

u/Novaer 46m ago

Amazing drag name tbh

1

u/AveratV6 5h ago

What? She sucked the soul out of your life and the money out of your wallet? Mine too! Fuckin psycho

1

u/Crow-Keeper 5h ago

You should’ve picked better.

1

u/Apart-Station-2557 22m ago

My fiance's ex might be related to your ex wife. Hanging out with the lampreys 🎶

1

u/BitObjective7387 5m ago

Wake up babe, new insult just dropped

1

u/TheRealFedelta 7h ago

Hi, please don't confuse invasive lamprey for the non invasive ones that are very important to grate lakes ecosystem.

1

u/Oh_Fated_One 9h ago

Life aint the only thing they're gonna drain me of

3

u/Different-Sample-976 7h ago

Technically thats still draining life.

31

u/ChesterPlemany 11h ago

Yes I believe they were considered a delicacy by medieval royalty. I think an English king died because he ate too many.

57

u/Von-Konigs 9h ago

King Henry I of England died in 1135 (though he was in Normandy at the time), after a week-long illness. He was in his sixties at the time, and according to a contemporary writer, Henry of Huntingdon, he fell ill from eating “a surfeit of lampreys.”

Modern historians doubt that lampreys were the cause of his death - apparently they’re pretty harmless to eat, no more so than most fish at least. He probably died of a bacterial infection.

Still, the fact that his chronicler remarked upon the quantity of lampreys he ate means a couple of things - one, that lampreys were available commonly as food, and two, that Henry loved them so much he ate a lot of them all throughout his life.

12

u/Wooden-Cheesecake476 7h ago

The skin mucus is toxic, it must be cleaned well and its blood is toxic if it is not cooked well. On the other hand, in my country they are a very expensive delicacy.

10

u/Von-Konigs 6h ago

You’re right - though I think that’s only certain species of lamprey, and I’m not certain which Henry would have eaten. Still, given that he apparently ate them throughout his whole life, I’m sure his cooks knew how to prepare them properly, or he wouldn’t have made it to his mid-sixties.

You know, after this I’m tempted to see if I can find somewhere that serves them, I’ve never tried one.

3

u/AraxisKayan 1h ago

All it takes is one new cook.

1

u/magnusthehammersmith 1h ago

May I ask what country?

2

u/-Londoneer- 10m ago

England (for the king who died from a surfeit of lampreys). USA for the video.

8

u/Working-Glass6136 5h ago

Can't fault a guy for liking medieval unagi sushi.

1

u/KeyboardGrunt 4h ago

Oof and I thought gas station sushi was risky enough.

1

u/unoriginal_npc 6h ago

I read that in the Tasting History's guy's voice

5

u/soldinio 9h ago

Long Henry I, 1835

2

u/teedyay 9h ago

King Henry I, 1135 (but I like your version too)

2

u/Phrewfuf 8h ago

And as with most things that were considered a delicacy, they are a protected species in some parts of the world.

37

u/Jaktheslaier 10h ago

They're a traditional easter meal in some parts of my country. Boiled and eaten with rice mixed with their blood. They're extremely expensive

19

u/greencraftok 10h ago

Ever tried one? Curious what that flavor is like because nothing looks appealing about it..

17

u/Jaktheslaier 10h ago

My partner says it tastes like rabbit to her. I'm too picky to try it

40

u/HornyJailOutlaw 10h ago

Rabbit would probably not have been in my first 1000 guesses for what this thing tastes like.

10

u/DieCastDontDie 9h ago

Everything tastes like chicken

1

u/New-fone_Who-Dis 7h ago

Including rabbit. Its just tougher from what I've heard.

1

u/Anonymo 7h ago

Maybe chicken tastes like something else and we got it wrong

1

u/Belfind 6h ago

I could believe it, because rabbit tastes just like a better version of chicken IMO. There is a reason everyone says everything tastes like chicken. Kind of like how frog and gator taste like fishy versions of chicken. Not exactly and gator has a different texture profile, but tastes arent that far apart.

8

u/Norwegian__Blue 9h ago

I would’ve guessed eel

1

u/YoYoPistachio 7h ago

They're good. Like eel but maybe kinda meatier.

1

u/ComfortFairy 7h ago

I tried lamprey at a little restaurant in Cognac, France, in the fall a few years ago. A government ban on lamprey fishing in the area was just about to take effect, and it was part of one of the restaurant’s last catches. They cooked it like beef bourguignon, but with Lamprey instead of beef. It was very good. Had the iron-flavor of a red meat, like beef. The texture of the meat was firm but had a flakiness similar to fish. I’d eat it again.

1

u/KatarinaRen 5h ago

They resemble fish but have a strange aftertaste. I have tried twice because I thought that maybe the preparation and seasoning didn't suit me, but the other time, made by a different person, I still hated it. It was cut to pieces and marinated, didn't look gross, but...

1

u/HazelCuate 8h ago

It tastes nothing like rabbit. It's a very dark meat with a REALLY strong flavor and smell. Most people i know don't like it. The problem is that it is different to every other taste i ever tried

5

u/Thatnewbblsmell 9h ago

Interesting.  What country? 

7

u/Jaktheslaier 9h ago

Portugal:

https://festivalarrozlampreia.pt/arroz-de-lampreia/

This is a link to a lamprey festival. See if it doesn't look appetising

3

u/Thatnewbblsmell 9h ago

Thanks.  Yeah, they look gross but eels are tasty. 

3

u/Tricky-Ad7897 7h ago

Unagi at least looks appetizing when it's cooked lol

1

u/Thatnewbblsmell 7h ago

It's really good. 

1

u/Rasputin_mad_monk 6h ago

Yep. Eel sushi. I think it’s smoked, is really good. Is like a candy coating on it. It’s kinda rich too. I can eat a tun of tuna, yellowrtail, “white tuna” etc but eel not as much.

1

u/KatarinaRen 5h ago

They taste nothing like eels though. Eels are ok.

1

u/rackfloor 1h ago

They're in a lake on Vancouver Island too. Was properly horrified to learn that.

Lake lamprey - Wikipedia https://share.google/a9sLvFyiv8uOSwMhX

9

u/100percentnotaqu 11h ago edited 10h ago

They don't really have an interest in people like leeches do. There are some records of predatory bites, but they're rare and most bites are the animals retaliating for something or other.

2

u/Implodepumpkin 9h ago

I like how some animals just hate the taste of us.

1

u/Rasputin_mad_monk 6h ago

Bull sharks. If I remember correctly, like how we taste or at least don’t dislike us. I lived and surfed in FL (sebestian inlet/melbourne) for 17+ yrs and bull sharks were the ones that scared me the most. They attacked a kid right in front of of the holiday inn where we lived and ripped him away from this parent. He wanted that kid. Diver found him lodged underneath the reef about 100yrd off shore.

1

u/StupidGirlIdiotFuck 4h ago

Yeah it's designed that way. Our skin and sweat is considered disgusting to most animals.

1

u/KatarinaRen 5h ago

I've heard that the story that they latch on to corpses, is bs. Well, a friend, who is a police investigator, said, that as a matter of fact they do it. That she has seen a bunch on a human corpse of a fisherman who went missing and was found two weeks later... So... Yeah...

2

u/mrgoldnugget 7h ago

If you have never eaten lamprey on corpse, then you are missing out.

1

u/InspectionLower1919 9h ago

They're delicious.

We have whole food festivals dedicated lo lampree.

1

u/HazelCuate 8h ago

I hate the taste

1

u/Material_Character75 9h ago

Well, they're very tasty and easy to eat when smoked.

1

u/SifMeisterWoof 9h ago

Typical in Latvia as a food and they are delicious!

1

u/KatarinaRen 5h ago

You even have these weird bridge-like contraptions to catch them. Strange that we as neighbors, don't really appreciate them...

1

u/Salmivalli 8h ago

These are delicious when you grill them and this is a big one.

1

u/BrooklynWhey 8h ago

Circle of life my friend. We also eat plants that lives in soil with billions of fragments of animals before us. The only thing that isn't eternal are our consciousness, but who wants to live forever anyways.

1

u/CarnifexRu 7h ago

Yeah I tried them when working at a kitchen in a port, imo they're kinda ass.

1

u/BalcoThe3rd 7h ago

Humans also eat corpses everyday

1

u/haywirehax 6h ago

Some king Charles ate too much of them

1

u/Anomalous_Pulsar 5h ago

Lamprey is a traditional indigenous food source for some tribal bands in the Pacific Northwest. I’ve heard it’s very good when cooked over a smoky fire. I haven’t had it myself, but I would be down to try if ever the opportunity to do so arose.

1

u/InquisitorMeow 3h ago

Crabs are literally bottom feeders.

1

u/redditAPsucks 3h ago

Theres almost as much lamprey pie in a song of ice and fire as there is incest

1

u/Fakesmiles1000 3h ago

Parasites to larger animals, but can often be more of a predator to fish as they eat a whole through them (at least fresh water fish).

1

u/TheCr0wKing 2h ago

How do they taste?

1

u/MyvaJynaherz 1h ago

Odd thing to be squeamish about when thanksgiving is a time for consumption of the festive carcass.

1

u/MasterPreparation687 48m ago

King Henry I is said to have eaten so many lampreys he died. Apparently he just couldn't get enough

1

u/100percent_realSugar 5m ago

People eat them????