Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker

Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker

Scientific Name	Eumicrotremus orbis
Conservation Status	Data Defficient
Family	Chordata
Habitat	North Pacific Rim
Food	Worms, crustaceans, mollusks

Lumpsuckers or lumpfish are mostly small scorpaeniform marine fish of the family Cyclopteridae. They are found in the cold waters of the Arctic, North Atlantic, and North Pacific oceans. The greatest number of species are found in the North Pacific.

Video Of Pacific Spiny Lumpsuckers

The roe of Cyclopterus lumpus, known as the stenbider (literally "stone biter") in Danish or stenbit in Swedish, is used extensively in Scandi

navian cuisine. The roe is also used as an affordable alternative to the caviar produced by sturgeons.

The family name Cyclopteridae derives from the Greek words κύκλος (kyklos), meaning "circle", and πτέρυξ (pteryx), meaning "wing" or "fin", in reference to the circle-shaped pectoral fins of most of the fish that comprise this family.

As their appearance might suggest, lumpsuckers are poor swimmers. Most species are benthic; that is, they spend most of their time on or near the bottom. The fish are found on rocky or muddy substrates, where their coloration allows for effective camouflage. Members of the family are found primarily on the continental shelf or slope, at depths from 100-1,700 metres. Some of the deeper-living species are however pelagic, remaining some distance above the ocean floor.

Benthic species feed on sessile invertebrates such as polychaete worms, crustaceans and mollusks. Pelagic species target prey they are capable of overtaking, namely slow-moving jellyfish and ctenophores.