12 



Animal Life by the Sea-shore. 



The Lumpsucker {Cvclopterus liimpus) is an extraordinary- 

 looking fish, flabby and covered with warts and tubercles, 

 growing to a length of two feet or more (Fig. 9). Between 

 February and April the male makes pits in the sand between 

 stones m shallow water, in which the female deposits the eggs, 

 pinkish in colour and forming a ball ; he takes care of the 

 eggs and also of the ^'oung, which cling to his body with their 

 suckers. 



The Sea-snails {Liparis) an- dmiinutive Lumpsuckers, with 

 perfectly smooth skin and a longer dorsal fin. They measure 

 only two to five inches, and the coloration is very variable, 

 some specimens being uniform yellowish - brown or orange, 

 others mottled or spotted with dark brown, or bearing dark 

 longitudinal lines. The larger L. vulgaris, with the vertical 

 fins continuous, is a northern species, rarely found in the Channel. 

 The common species, L. montagui, with the caudal fin quite 

 distinct from the dorsal and anal, is found at low tide among 

 weeds or under stones. The yellow or orange eggs form a small 

 ball attached to the fronds of seaweeds or to zoophytes. 



The Suckers [Lepadogaster) have the ventral disc or sucker 

 divided into two, the anterior between and embraced by the rays 

 of the A-entral fins (Figs. 9 and 10). They are small fishes, two to 



FIG. 10. VENTR,\L DISCS OF GOBY, SUCKER ,'\ND SE.\-SN.\IL. 



four inches long, found among seaweeds, or sticking to stones 

 in rock-pools. Three species are to be met with at low tide — 

 L. gouani with the dorsal fin much longer than the anal, 

 these two fins embracing the caudal, with a long, bifid 



