Lamprey is the rich, dense, blood-dark flesh of jawless eel-like fish of the order Petromyzontiformes — above all the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) and the smaller European river lamprey (Lampetra fluviatilis). Though snake-bodied and often mistaken for eel, the lamprey is not a true fish at all in the everyday sense: it has no jaws, no bones, no scales and no paired fins, gripping its prey with a round, tooth-ringed sucker mouth and rasping tongue. Its flesh is fattier and far meatier than eel — closer in taste to game or offal than to white fish — and it is a historic European delicacy, braised in its own blood and red wine as the French lamproie à la bordelaise or the Portuguese lampreia à moda do Minho. Because the blood and slime can irritate, and the flesh is heavy, lamprey is always thoroughly cooked, usually as a long braise.