i 3 4 LUMP SUCKER. Class IV. 



On the upper part of the back is a thick ridge 

 improperly called a fin, being deftitute of fpines ; 

 beneath that is the dorfal fin, of a brownifh hue, 

 reaching within an inch of the tail : on the belly, 

 juft oppofite, is another of the fame form-. The 

 belly is of a bright crimfon color : the pectoral fins 

 are large and broad, almoft uniting at their bafe. 

 Beneath thefe is the part by which it adheres to 

 the rocks, &c. It confifts of an oval aperture, fur- 

 rounded with a flefhy mufcular and obtufe foft 

 fubftance, edged with fmall threaded appendages, 

 which concur as fo many clafpers : tail and vent 

 fins purple. 



By means of this part it adheres with vaft force 

 to any thing it pleafes. As a proof of its tena- 

 city we have known, that on flinging a fifh of this 

 fpecies juft caught, into a pail t)f water, it fixed 

 itfelf fo firmly to the bottom, that on taking the 

 fiih by the tail, the whole pail by that means was 

 lifted, though it held fome gallons, and that with- 

 out removing the fifh from its hold. 



Thefe fifh refort in multitudes during fpring 

 to the coaft of Sutherland, near the Ord of Caith- 

 nefs. The feals which fwarm beneath, prey great- 

 ly on them, leaving the fkins ; numbers of which 

 thus emptied float at that feafon afhore. It is eafy 

 to diftinguifh the place where feals are devouring 

 this or any unctuous fifh, by a fmoothnefs of the 

 water immediately above the fpot : this fact is 

 now eftablifhedj it being a tried property of oil to 



ftil} 



