PISHES OF CHESAPEAKE BAY 
311 
Chesapeake localities. — (a) Previous records: Near the entrance of Chesapeake Bay (Uhler 
and Lugger, 1876), Cape Charles city, and Old Point Coinfort, Va. (b) Specimens in collection: 
None. The species evidently is very rare in Chesapeake Bay. 
Family LXXV.-CYCLOPTERID/E. The bmp suckers 
Body short and thick; back more or less elevated; head short and thick; suborbital stay present, 
thin and flattish; mouth small, terminal; teeth in the jaws simple, in bands: none on palatines or 
vomer; gill openings narrow, restricted to the sides; gill membranes broadly joined to the isthmus 
and to the shoulder girdle; gills 3J4; pseudobranchise present; branchiostegals 6; skin smooth, 
tubercular, or spinous; dorsal fins 2, the anterior one sometimes hidden by the skin; soft dorsal and 
anal similar, without spines; caudal fin narrow, round, with few rays; ventrals thoracic, forming 
the bony center of a sucking disk; pectoral fins rather short, with very broad bases. 
133. Genus CYCLOPTERUS Linnseus. Lumpfishes 
Body more or less compressed toward the back, somewhat triangular in cross section; head 
short, thick, more or less quadrate in cross section; snout blunt, round; mouth terminal, turned 
slightly upward; skin covered with rough, bony tubercles; dorsal fins 2, the first visible only in the 
very young, completely hidden in the skin in the adult; ventral disk moderately large. 
170. Cyclopterus lumpus Linnaeus. Lumpfish; Lump sucker. 
Cyclopterus lumpus Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. X, 1758, p. 260; Baltic and North Seas. Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 
2096, PI. CCCXIII, fig, 757; Bean, 1907, p. 178; Kendall, 1914, p. [1], 
Head 5 (in entire length); depth 2; D. VI to VIII-9 to 11 (the first dorsal visible only in very 
young); A. 9 to 11. Body massive, with the dorsal profile much more strongly arched than the 
ventral and concave over the head; body more or less triangular in cross section and with seven 
longitudinal ridges, one of these on the median line of the back as a cartilaginous flap inclosing 
the first dorsal in the adult and dividing into two ridges between the dorsal fins; another ridge on 
each side over the eye; another ridge paralleling it and extending from somewhat below posterior 
point of opercle to lower edge of caudal peduncle; and another marking the boundary from side 
to belly; each ridge with large pointed tubercles; the skin between the ridges thickly studded with 
small knobs; snout short; eye small, as long as snout, 4 in head; mouth broad, terminal; teeth 
small, in bands; gill opening moderately wide; second dorsal and anal similar and placed opposite 
each other; caudal fin square to slightly rounded posteriorly; ventral fins modified into six pairs 
of fleshy knobs in the center of the sucking disk, surrounded by a roughly circular flap of skin, the 
entire disk about as wide as head and situated close behind the throat; pectoral fins large, very 
broad at base, nearly meeting at throat. 
Color variable, yellowish to greenish in young; adult males reddish; females bluish to brownish; 
spots, blotches, cloudings, and other marks not infrequent. The young often take on the color 
of their surroundings very closely. 
This species was not taken during the present investigation. The foregoing description is 
compiled from published accounts. The peculiar shape, the body ridges with their bony tubercles, 
and the rough skin readily separate the lumpfish from all other fishes of Chesapeake Bay. 
The food of the lumpfish appears to be quite varied, consisting of crustaceans, mollusks, worms, 
jellyfish, and various other invertebrates. Fish also are eaten. 
The spawning period of this fish evidently is a protracted one, occuring in general during late 
winter and spring. The only two specimens recorded from Chesapeake Bay were ripe females; 
one was taken on April 14, 1907, and the other on April 29, 1914. An inshore migration is said to 
take place during the spawning season, and the eggs are deposited in comparatively shallow water. 
A large number of eggs are produced by a single female; they are about 2.2 to 2.6 millimeters in 
diameter and they stick together in masses and sink. 
The pelagic habits of the young, described by Bigelow and Welsh (1925, pp. 336-337) were 
observed by one of us (Schroeder) in the Gulf of Maine during the summer of 1925, when many 
fry about 1 inch long were found among floating masses of rockweed. 
