oddoregon

[oddoregon]

PROUD LIFE LONG GOONER!

[oddoregon]

You ever make a tumblr blog dedicated to rambling about your weird ass state, only to get busy and post like two things and forget about your blog. I swear I'll get back to this... Maybe...

[oddoregon]

While I work on my next post, here's some photos I got back when I went to the aquarium earlier this year:

(If you look closely, this guy has eyebrows.)

[oddoregon]

Hey you! Did you know that Oregon has some ancient fish?...well now you do. I guess.

They're called pacific lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus is their scientific name.) And they are older than both TREES AND DINOSAURS. They're still alive and kicking.

Here's what they look like:

They literally have no jaws. They are so freaking old that they became a thing before jaws did. Don't worry though, they still have an insane amount of teeth:

So, what do they use those teeth for? Being parasites of course. They typically like feeding on marine life around them, sucking blood until they're full and then dipping. People might tell you that they kill their hosts, but they don't. They just like a little sip and then politely leave.

Although adults live in the ocean, they might even be in your backyard. Larvae are born and grow in creeks and rivers. Until they reach a juvenile stage which is when they migrate to the ocean.

A less educational fact is that it was only a few years ago that I fully learnt what the hell these things were, as a little kid I'd play with the babies in my creek. Catching them and letting them go repeatedly. Though, they were pretty rare to see. It was pretty magical catching them. It felt like I made contact with E.T. or something.