THE SUCKER FAMILY 



THIS family includes only fishes with a sucker on the belly, 

 which are found in the arctic and temperate regions of the 

 northern hemisphere. There are no ordinary scales ; the skin is 

 either entirely unarmed or provided with scattered rough bony 

 tubercles. There are two dorsal fins or only one. The throat- 

 fins, in front of the breast-fins, form the sucker ; the fin-rays are 

 short and spread out round a shallow pit, and outside them is a 

 ring of skin ; the sucking action is produced simply by the 

 contraction of the muscles in the centre. These fishes live on 

 the shore, and up to a certain moderate depth. They have no 

 air-bladder. 



The eggs are comparatively large and adhesive, deposited in 

 clumps or masses, and the male parent guards them. 



The Lump-sucker (Cyclopterus lumpus]. 



Distinguishing Characters. The massive shape, marked with 

 longitudinal ridges and rough tubercles are characteristic of this 

 fish. The first dorsal fin is entirely buried in a fleshy ridge in 

 the back, the edge of which is armed with a row of tubercles. 

 The second dorsal and the ventral are of the usual structure, 

 and opposite to one another. The stalk of the tail is short. The 

 breast-fin is large, and the sucker large and powerful. There 

 are three rows of large tubercles on each side, besides numerous 

 minute ones all over the skin. 



The southern limit of the lump-sucker is the Bay of Biscay ; 

 northward it extends to . Iceland, Greenland, and the north coast 

 of Russia. On the American coast it extends southward to 



