Caspiomyzon is a genus of lamprey in the family Petromyzontidae. They are native to Eastern Europe and parts of Western Asia and Central Asia. Two of the three species in the genus are Endemism to Greece.
Taxonomy
Species
There are currently three recognized species in this genus:
-
Caspiomyzon graecus (Renaud & Economidis, 2010) (validity doubtful, may be junior synonym of C. hellenicus)
-
Greek lamprey (Vladykov, Renaud, Edward Kott & Economidis), 1982 (Greek brook lamprey)
-
Caspian lamprey (Kessler, 1870) (Caspian lamprey)
This was formerly considered a Monotypic taxon genus containing only C. wagneri, but phylogenetic studies suggest that hellenicus and graecus, formerly placed in Eudontomyzon, also belong to this genus.
Evolution
Phylogenetic studies indicate that they are the most basal members of the family
Petromyzontidae, and their lineage diverged from the other genera in the family (
Petromyzon and
Ichthyomyzon) in the
Late Cretaceous. The
wagneri lineage diverged from the
graecus+
hellenicus lineage during the
Eocene, although both Greek species only diverged during the late
Pliocene.
Ecology
Unlike other lampreys, species of
Caspiomyzon are suspected to feed on carrion rather than live prey.
