SUCKERS. 
267 
In some of the genera the ventrals unite with 
the pectorals to make the disk ; in others, they 
form a second circular disk in immediate contact 
with the other. The head is usually large and 
more or less flattened, while the body is com- 
monly compressed laterally. The body is smooth, 
destitute of scales, sometimes unctuous or slimy, 
and generally repulsive in appearance, though 
often coloured with bright hues. The snout is 
lengthened but obtuse. The skeleton is so soft 
that some members of the Family are said to dis- 
solve after death into a mucilaginous jelly, in 
which hardly any trace of bone remains. 
There are about forty species now known, half 
of which are European, and one eighth British. 
The others inhabit the coasts of the Atlantic and 
Pacific. 
Genus Cyclopterus. (Linn.) 
In this genus the head and body are deep, 
thick, and short ; the back is surmounted by an 
elevated ridge, bearing no small resemblance to 
an anterior dorsal fin ; this ridge is supported by 
several simple rays, but is covered with a hard 
skin. The pectorals unite with the ventrals to 
form a single disk beneath the throat. The whole 
body is covered with bony knobs or tubercles, 
some of which are larger, and arranged in longi- 
tudinal rows. 
The Lump Sucker, or Cock-paidle {Cyclopterus 
lumpus, Linn.), is taken all round our shores, but 
is more abundant as we approach the north. It 
attains a foot and a half in length, and is of the 
most brilliant colours. The body and head have 
