Discover the Fascinating World of Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker

selim12 March 20, 2024 0 Comments

Today, our deep sea creature is the Pacific spiny lumpsucker scientifically known as Eumicrotremus Orbis. It’s described as a ping-pong ball with a lot of fins. The family name Cyclopteridae comes from the Greek word “kyklos” which is a circle and “pteryx” meaning wing or fin.

Table of Contents

Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker Habitat:

They are found in Washington from Puget Sound to Alaska Aleutian islands. They are also found in the Bering Sea and northern Japan. They live in rocky reefs, sea beds, kelp patches, and other underwater forests. They live in-depth starting from the surface up to 575 m meters. They are also found in coral reefs.

Description And Appearance:

The normal length of this fish is 2.5 cm exceeding up to 7.5 cm but the maximal length can reach 18 cm. The mouth is wide compared to the body size with large lips. They have squared dorsal fins, rounded caudal fins, and transparent pectoral fins. They do not have scales, they have plates called tubercles. The color is variant including brown or green with yellow or orange markings. Females are green while males are orange.

Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker Diet:

Pacific spiny lumpsuckers feed on slow crustaceans, polychaete worms, and mollusks on the sandy seafloor.

Behavior Of The Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker:

They are solitary creatures in the sea. They are not fast swimmers, they rely on camouflage instead to hide from predators. Their pelvic fins have evolved to a modified suction disk making them attached to almost all solid objects. This gives stability for the fish and a hiding ground compensating them for the lack of a gas bladder.

Reproduction Of The Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker:

They spawn in shallow water in the months of July to October. The females lay 200 large orange eggs on rocks and sheltered holes. The male then fertilizes the eggs, but he stays close to them for protection attaching himself to a nearby surface. He also provides them with a steady amount of oxygen to help them survive. The male protection lasts from 3 to 8 weeks before the juveniles hatch and is free in the wild.

Predators:

Pacific cod, sablefish, marine sculpins, and lancefish are the main predators of this fish. Crab and sea stars prey on lumpfish eggs.

Conservation Status And Threats:

The Pacific spiny lumpsucker is not a critically endangered species and it has not been evaluated yet by the IUCN Red List. But they rely on shallow waters and eelgrass for habitat and climate change can affect those environments and the survival of these fish. They are also hunted for their eggs in the spawning season decreasing the population.

The pacific spiny lumpsucker is a fish of beauty and adaptability. More efforts are needed to protect this fish from reckless hunting and water pollution!