Characteristics of Typical Habitats of River Lamprey Lampetra fluviatilis Larvae (Petromyzontidae)

This paper describes typical habitats of European river lamprey (Lampetra fluviatilis (L., 1758)) larvae in the rivers of Leningrad Oblast. The density of ammocoetes and abiotic components of biotopes, as well as the structure of benthic and planktonic algae communities, zooplankton, and macrozoobenthos, are estimated. It is shown that the preferred grounds for larvae are sands <0.25 mm. Oligochaeta and Chironomidae larvae reach high levels of quantitative development together with ammocoetes. Algae and zooplankton communities are not decisive for lamprey larvae and have expressed seasonal patterns with peaks of abundance in the spring. The part of lamprey larvae in the abundance of benthic coenoses can reach significant values—the part in the total biomass of macrozoobenthos is 30–80%.