The Silver Lamprey is found in several disjunct populations in the Mississippi River Drainage, including the Tennessee and Cumberland river drainages, north to Arctic Drainages. As adults, they live in lakes, reservoirs, and streams, but larvae (ammocoetes) are found in streams along banks in soft substrate. Silver Lampreys are parasitic, meaning they feed as adults by attaching to fish using suction from their oral disc and grasping flesh with the teeth on their mouth and tongue.