Of all the creatures in the animal kingdom, the sea lamprey is not among the most attractive, or the most pleasant. Referred to by some as “nature’s vampires,” it’s a long and parasitic eel-like fish that attaches itself to the side of larger fish, essentially sucking the innards out of its host.
Now an award-winning PhD student in Biological Sciences has made an important discovery about how the lamprey processes olfactory information, which he says may help aid efforts to eradicate the invasive species from the Great Lakes.