SUCKERS. 267 



In some of the genera the ventrals unite with 

 the pectorals to make the disk ; in others, they 

 form a second circular disk in immediate contact 

 with the other. The head is usually large and 

 more or less flattened, while the body is com- 

 monly compressed laterally. The body is smooth, 

 destitute of scales, sometimes unctuous or slimy, 

 and generally repulsive in appearance, though 

 often coloured with bright hues. The snout is 

 lengthened but obtuse. The skeleton is so soft 

 that some members of the Family are said to dis- 

 solve after death into a mucilaginous jelly, in 

 which hardly any trace of bone remains. 



There are about forty species now^ known, half 

 of which are European, and one eighth British, 

 The others inhabit the coasts of the Atlantic and 

 Pacific. 



Genus Cyclopterus. (Linn.) 



In this genus the head and body are deep, 

 thick, and short ; the back is surmounted by an 

 elevated ridge, bearing no small resemblance to 

 an anterior dorsal fin ; this ridge is supported by 

 several simple rays, but is covered with a hard 

 skin. The pectorals unite w^ith the ventrals to 

 form a single disk beneath the throat. The whole 

 body is covered with bony knobs or tubercles, 

 some of w^hich are larger, and arranged in longi- 

 tudinal rows. 



The Lump Sucker, or Cock-paidle {Cyclopterus 

 lumpus, Linn.), is taken all round our shores, but 

 is more abundant as we approach the north. It 

 attains a foot and a half in length, and is of the 

 most brilliant colours. The body and head have 



