Petromyzontidae are a family of lampreys native to the Northern Hemisphere, comprising the vast majority of living lampreys. Petromyzontids have the highest number of chromosomes (164–174) among vertebrates.
Classification Vladykov and Kott (1979) proposed classifying the Northern Hemisphere lampreys into three subfamilies: Petromyzontinae, Entospheninae and Lampetrinae.Vladykov, V.D. & Kott, E. 1979. List of Northern Hemisphere lampreys (Petromyzonidae) and their distribution. Department of Fisheries and Oceans Miscellaneous Special Publication 42: 30 pp.Renaud, C.B. Lampreys of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of lamprey species known to date. FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes. No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2011. 109 pp. Also Carim et al. (2024) proposed a genus Occidentis for western North American ‘Lampetra’.Carim, K. J., G. Auringer, M. F. Docker, C. B. Renaud, B. J. Clemens, M. R. Blanchard, C. Parker & M. K. Young 2024. Species diversity in the new lamprey genus Occidentis, formerly classified as western North American ‘Lampetra’. PLoS ONE 19 (12): e0313911: 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0313911.Kellie J. Carim, Claude B. Renaud, Michael K. Young & Margaret F. Docker 2025. Recognition of the lamprey genus Occidentis Carim et al., 2024 as distinct from Lampetra Bonnaterre, 1788. Zootaxa 5692(2): 393-399. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5692.2.11. Subfamily Petromyzontinae Ichthyomyzon Petromyzon — sea lamprey Caspiomyzon Subfamily Entospheninae Entosphenus Tetrapleurodon Subfamily Lampetrinae Eudontomyzon Lampetra Lethenteron Occidentis
References
External links FishBase.org: Details for family Petromyzontidae – the Northern lampreys