LUMP SUCKER. 
299 
to fertilize and watch them. Even Fabricius describes 
the vigilance and courage displayed by the male in the 
performance of this duty. Johan Persson, a fisherman 
of Sydkoster in Bohuslan, as Malm relates, observed 
the spawning of the Lump Sucker for three years run- 
ning in the same cleft in the rocks, at a depth of 3 or 
4 fathoms. After the roe had been deposited, the male 
posted itself “a couple of feet away and blew on the 
roe, which it defends from all enemies, defeating the 
attacks even of the crab.” It is probable, however, 
that the female also shares this duty. From Gamrie, 
in Banffshire, Harris" states: “Upon this coast their 
nests are almost invariably to be met with in rocky 
places, a little beyond low-water mark. There is also this 
peculiarity, that the sites of these are usually cavities 
from eight to ten inches in diameter, opening horizont- 
ally into the -water. Mr. West, of Pennan (Zool. 2998), 
informs me, that in one case he came upon a hen seated 
on her nest, just, he supposed, as she had completed 
the process of spawning. She adhered very tenaciously, 
manifesting at the same time considerable intrepidity, 
which seemed to be shared by her companion, the cock, 
who, during the struggle, kept close by, flitting through 
and through the water in a state of violent agitation.” 
The fry grow slowly, but vary in this respect. During 
the first year, in the majority of cases, they probably 
do not exceed a length of 20 mm. On the voyage of 
the gunboat Gunli'dd, in 1878, young specimens from 
10 to 12 mm. long were taken on Lilia Middelgrund, 
at a depth of between 10 and 12 fathoms, on a stony 
and sandy bottom, on the 12th of July, and on the 
16th of the same month another specimen 16 mm. long 
was caught S.W. of Kullen, at a depth of 13 fathoms, 
on a bottom composed of blended sand and clay. On 
the 4th of August, 1865, Dr. A. V. Ljungman took 
young specimens from 12 to 1 8 1 2 mm. long, at the 
surface of the open sea, west of Foster, and on the 
21st of the same month a young specimen 16 1 2 mm. 
long, at a depth of between 3 and 8 fathoms, on a 
clayey bottom. In March, 1882, Mr. C. A. Hansson 
caught a Lump Sucker 28 mm. long in Foster Fjord. 
This specimen, when compared with the others men- 
tioned above, must naturally be assumed to have be- 
longed to the previous year, as well as the fry between 
19 and 31 mm. long which Fries (1. c.) took in such 
large numbers in a bottom-net, in Gullmar Fjord, in 
the month of April. According to this assumption too, 
the small, light sea-green specimens, strewn with black 
dots and about 75 to 100 mm. long, which are stated 
by Fries to be taken in small numbers in autumn, in 
the seines, on the coast of Bohuslan, must also date 
from the spawning-season of the preceding year. 
The Lump Sucker feeds, according to Ekstrom, on 
crustaceans, worms and Med usee, the latter entering into 
its diet, as Lilljeborg has remarked, chiefly for the 
sake of the crustaceans ( Hyperidce ) which live in their 
body. Its own most formidable enemy is said to be 
the seal, which skilfully skins it from head to tail, 
leaving both these parts fast to the skin 6 . As human 
food the reputation of the Lump Sucker varies. “The 
flesh, when boiled, is flabby,” says Ekstrom, “is al- 
ways rather tough, and in my opinion is far from 
appetising.” In France it is not eaten: “the flesh,” says 
Moreau, “diffuses an odour which is by no means pleas- 
ant.” In Scotland, however, many persons thoroughly 
appreciate it, at least before the spawning-season, though 
the female is less liked than the male. “Here,” writes 
Malm of Bohuslan, “no method of preparing this fish 
for food is generally known, or of removing the skin, 
which is much thicker than in the majority of fishes, 
and almost cartilaginous. The Lump Sucker is, there- 
fore, not much in demand, and is usually sold at a 
price which seems trifling when we consider its value 
as a wholesome and agreeable article of food.” 
In the pharmacopoeia of former times the Lump 
Sucker held a high place c . “The few specimens that 
are caught here,” writes Ekstrom in the Fauna of 
Mdrko , “are never used as food. They are employed 
only as a remedy for ague. For this purpose the fish 
is thoroughly dried in an oven, and pounded to a 
powder. The powder is taken in corn-brandy, in doses 
of a teaspoonful.” 
" Zoologist , 1851 (IX), p. 3157. 
b Harris, 1. c. 
c “Pulvis contra Tertianam vulgo adhibetnr” : Linnaeus, Fn . Suec . 
