Water Vole /
Otter
Salmon
Brown Trout and Sea Trout
European Eel
Eels are amazing creatures. Every single eel found in rivers, lakes, canals, ponds throughout Europe, has originated from the Sargasso Sea in the Caribbean. This is where all adult eels migrate to spawn, having spent up to 30 years in freshwater. As if that isn’t incredible enough, the female eel will produce several million eggs each!
Eggs, having been fertilized in the Sargasso will start to drift north east across the Atlantic, carried by the Gulf Stream. After 2-3 years they will reach European shores, where, carried by tidal cycles, they will move into estuaries and eventually rivers at which point the elvers, as they are then known, will swim upstream even crossing land to reach lakes and ponds.
Eels are naturally predated upon by many other fish species as well as birds and mammals such as herons and otters.
They are threatened by obstacles to their migration, loss of habitat and poor water quality – all factors which the Rivers Trust is trying to address through its improvement projects.
Stone Loach
Bullhead
Sometimes known as ‘Millers Thumb’ this small fish can often be found lying under stones on the river bed
Lamprey
Three types of lamprey can be found in our rivers these being:
Brook Lamprey – which spends its entire life in freshwater and being nocturnal is rarely seen except when excavating their spawning redds or nests.
River lamprey – slightly larger than the brook lamprey, and thought by some to be the same species, it is believed that some of the population do migrate into estuaries and coastal waters.
Sea lamprey – growing up to 1m in length, these are fearsome looking. They spawn in freshwater but then migrate to sea and feed by attaching themselves to the sides of larger fish into the flesh of which they bore a hole in order to eat the flesh beneath the scales.
Having spawned, all lamprey will die.
Kingfisher
Heron
Dipper
Green Sandpiper
Grey wagtail
Sandmartin
Monkshood