i64 SALT-WATER FISHES 



spicuous difference between the two groups, the lumpsucker 

 and its kindred have a spinous fin on the back, whereas the 

 dorsal fins of Lepadogaster are without spines. 



Discoboli 



The Lumpsucker {Cyclopterus lumpus) is perhaps the most 

 hideous and repulsive fish in our seas. The coarse head and 

 thick-set body are enveloped in a loose, slimy skin covered 

 with warty tubercles. There are numerous teeth in the jaws, 

 but none on the tongue or vomer. The female is the larger, 

 having been captured weighing over 15 lb., and is generally 

 blue in colour, the prevailing hue in the male being red. 

 They are known on the Scotch coasts as the cock and 

 hen paidle. 



It is not to be expected, seeing that the greenness of its 

 bones prejudice people against so excellent a food-fish as the 

 gar-fish, that a fish with the appearance of the lumpsucker 

 should be in great demand as human food. In England the 

 fish is little eaten, if at all. In some parts of Scotland it is 

 eaten by the natives ; in others, it is considered fit for the 

 pigs only. 



Its natural enemies are, however, many and dangerous, 

 for seals devour it in estuaries, sharks prey on it in deeper 

 water, and crows, rooks, and gulls attack it when guarding 

 the eggs above low water-mark. The eggs, which are heavy 

 and sink in the water, are deposited in early spring, and lie in 

 masses among the rocks. Mcintosh points out an interesting 

 case of protective colouring, due in part to reflection, for when 

 such a mass of eggs is only partly covered under a rocky 

 ledge, the eggs thus immersed are of a faint lilac hue, while 

 those more exposed are straw-coloured. From the point of 

 view of the species, it is to be regretted that the male lump- 

 sucker has not a little less devotion and the female a little 

 more judgment, for the eggs are frequently deposited on the 



