540 THE SUCKERS. 



with its contents, may be lifted from the ground without 

 the fish relinquishing its hold. It lives at the bottom, 

 preferring it where stony, and for the greater part of the 

 year in the deeps. It would seem to live in monogamy ; 

 for, during the spawning season, which occurs in the 

 spring, the male and female are always seen together ; and, 

 when she has deposited her ova, usually in rocky ground, 

 and at only a few feet beneath the surface of the water, 

 he, after fi'uctifying the eggs, keeps immediately over 

 them (many, indeed, imagine they are hatched by him), 

 and guards them from every foe with the utmost courage. 

 Should he be disturbed by the presence of a person, he 

 retreats but a short distance, looking back constantly in 

 the while, and shortly returns to his post. Even the well- 

 armed Sea Wolf is said to hazard its life if it approaches 

 the nest of the Lump Sucker ; for this creature, notwith- 

 standing the smallness of its teeth, is capable of affixing 

 itself to the neck of its adversary and inflicting a moi-tal 

 wound. The flesh of the female is, we are told, flabby, 

 and little eaten, but that of the male is by some looked 

 on as a delicacy, especially when dressed in the manner 

 of the Burbot {Lota vtilgaris), which in flavour it somewhat 

 resembles. The ova, being of a large size, of a reddish- 

 brown colour, and vei'y numerous, are taken np from the 

 bottom in a peculiar kind of dredge, and afterwards salted 

 and eaten as Caviar. They are used as bait, moreover, 

 by the fishermen. 



The Unctuous Sucker, or ^edi-?,nvci\.{Slurre Lump-Fisk, 

 or greater lump-fish, Sw. ; Almindelig Ring-btig, or com- 

 mon ring-belly, Dan. ; L'qmris vulgaris, Flem., L. hurha- 

 tiis, Ekstrom), is rare in the Scandinavian seas; and 

 hitherto has only been identified, I believe, on the 

 eastern coast of Sweden, where, in about lat. 58°, some 

 few specimens have been taken. Its usual size would 

 seem to be from three to five inches, but it is said to 



