Lamprey

Lampreys were a species of parasitic, leech-like eels.

Description
Lampreys had round sphincter-like orifices that were ringed with sharp teeth. Their bodies measured around in length. They typically had a sickly brown, green, or grayish coloring.

Behavior
These creatures had horrible tempers. They were largely driven by a desire to eat and reproduce. They tended to aggressively fight other creatures in order to protect their lairs.

Biology
Lamprey had a near flawless homing sense, allowing them to pinpoint creatures up to away.

Lamprey injected some form of poison into the creatures that they attached themselves. While this poison was harmless to creatures other than fish, it imparted a severely sour taste upon the latter that many considered to be inedible.

Combat
Much like a leech or giant leech, used their mouths to fasten themselves to prey, from which they gradually drained blood. Once full, they detached themselves from their prey, but otherwise they largely refused to let go unless killed.

History
The rivers that emptied into the Sea of Fallen Stars were plagued every few years by wide-scale attacks from preys. With fish traveling upriver, such as salmon, being the most affected. Over time many attempts were made to eradicate their species from the area, but none had proven successful.

Sub-Species

 * Giant lamprey: A monstrous variety of the standard lamprey.
 * Land lamprey: A species of lampreys that had mutated to be capable of surviving on land.

Diet
These creatures primarily subsisted upon blood, draining it from larger species of fish. Unlike many parasitic creatures, they did not die with their host.

Habitats
Lampreys could be found in both fresh and saltwater environments, but were almost never encountered in shallow water, only deep waters. They typically made their lairs within underwater caves or coral formations.

In Faerûn, lampreys were particularly known to inhabit the Sea of Fallen Stars, the subterranean areas of Seros, the Stump Bog, the River Ashaba, and Dragon Reach. Beyond Faerûn, lampreys could be found in much of Kara-Tur.

Trivia

 * Those who specialized in sea-based magic could summon the common variety of lamprey with the spell monster summoning I.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Polyhedron #87, "Eye of the Leviathan" • Wyrmskull Throne