The Cyclopteridae are a family of marine fishes, commonly known as lumpsuckers or lumpfish, in the order

Scorpaeniformes The Scorpaeniformes are a diverse Order (biology), order of Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish, including the lionfishes and sculpins, but have also been called the Scleroparei. It is one of the five largest orders of bony fishes by number of spec ...

. They are found in the cold waters of the

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...

, and

North Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

oceans. The greatest number of species are found in the North Pacific. The family name ''Cyclopteridae'' derives from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

words ''κύκλος'' (kyklos), meaning "circle", and ''πτέρυξ'' (pteryx), meaning "wing" or "fin", in reference to the circle-shaped

pectoral fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column ...

s of most of the fish in this family.

Genera

Cyclopteridae includes the following valid genera:

Description

Lumpsuckers are named appropriately enough; their portly bodies are nearly

spherical A sphere (from Ancient Greek, Greek , ) is a surface (mathematics), surface analogous to the circle, a curve. In solid geometry, a sphere is the Locus (mathematics), set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three ...

with generally drab coloration and lithic patterns. The "sucker" part refers to the fish's modified

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral (belly) surface of fish, and are the lower of the only two sets of paired fins (the other being the laterally positioned pectoral fins). The pelvic fins are homologous to the hi ...

s, which have evolved into

adhesive Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation. The use of adhesives offers certain advantage ...

discs (located ventrally, behind the pectoral fins); the fish use these discs to adhere to the

substrate Substrate may refer to: Physical layers *Substrate (biology), the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the surface or medium on which an organism grows or is attached ** Substrate (aquatic environment), the earthy material that exi ...

. Many species have bony, wart-like ''

tubercle In anatomy, a tubercle (literally 'small tuber', Latin for 'lump') is any round nodule, small eminence, or warty outgrowth found on external or internal organs of a plant or an animal. In plants A tubercle is generally a wart-like projectio ...

s'' adorning the head and body; these are important

taxonomic 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme of classes (a taxonomy) and the allocation ...

features of the family. The simple, rounded fins are small with the exception of the broad, fan-like pectorals, which actually extend ventrally. The first of the two

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

s is spinous, with 4–8 spines; in some species, this fin is completely overgrown with skin and therefore not visible. While the

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelia ...

in lumpsuckers is otherwise reduced or absent, it is well developed in the head; some species even have tubular, whisker-like external projections of the

opercular canal Operculum may refer to: Human biology *Operculum (brain), the part of the brain covering the insula *Operculum (dentistry), a small flap of tissue which may cover an erupting or partially erupted molar *Cervical mucus plug, the cervical mucus ...

, which is a part of the

cranial Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek language, Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. Thi ...

lateral line system. The relatively small mouths of lumpsuckers are lined with narrow rows of small

conical In geometry, a cone is a three-dimensional figure that tapers smoothly from a flat base (typically a circle) to a point not contained in the base, called the ''apex'' or '' vertex''. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, ...

teeth. The

gas bladder The swim bladder, gas bladder, fish maw, or air bladder is an internal gas-filled organ in bony fish that functions to modulate buoyancy, and thus allowing the fish to stay at desired water depth without having to maintain lift via swimming, ...

is absent. In terms of length, lumpsuckers range in size from in the case of ''

Eumicrotremus awae ''Eumicrotremus awae'' is a species of lumpfish endemic to the Pacific coast of Honshu , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is th ...

'' up to more than in the case of the common lumpsucker ''

Cyclopterus lumpus ''Cyclopterus'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cyclopteridae, the lumpsuckers or lumpfish. Its only species is ''Cyclopterus lumpus'', the lumpsucker or lumpfish. It is found in the North Atlantic and adjacent part ...

''.

Habitat and diet

As their appearance might suggest, lumpsuckers are poor swimmers. Most species are ''

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "the depths". ...

''; that is, they spend most of their time on or near the bottom. The fish are found on rocky or muddy substrates, where their colouration allows for effective

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

. Members of the family are found primarily on the

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an islan ...

slope In mathematics, the slope or gradient of a Line (mathematics), line is a number that describes the direction (geometry), direction of the line on a plane (geometry), plane. Often denoted by the letter ''m'', slope is calculated as the ratio of t ...

, at depths down to . Some of the deeper-living species are however

pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean and can be further divided into regions by depth. The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or water column between the sur ...

, remaining some distance above the ocean floor. Benthic species feed on

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

invertebrate Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...

s such as

polychaete Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine Annelid, annelid worms, common name, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called c ...

worms,

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

s and

mollusk Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The ...

s. Pelagic species target prey they are capable of overtaking, namely slow-moving

jellyfish Jellyfish, also known as sea jellies or simply jellies, are the #Life cycle, medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, which is a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animal ...

and

ctenophore Ctenophora (; : ctenophore ) is a phylum of marine invertebrates, commonly known as comb jellies, that inhabit sea waters worldwide. They are notable for the groups of cilia they use for swimming (commonly referred to as "combs"), and they ar ...

s. Before their

yolk Among animals which produce eggs, the yolk (; also known as the vitellus) is the nutrient-bearing portion of the egg whose primary function is to supply food for the development of the embryo. Some types of egg contain no yolk, for example bec ...

is completely absorbed, juvenile lumpsuckers consume the larvae of

s, which grow on seaweed near the surface, and smaller halacarid mites. Juveniles consume larger harpacticoids and

isopods Isopoda is an Order (biology), order of crustaceans. Members of this group are called isopods and include both Aquatic animal, aquatic species and Terrestrial animal, terrestrial species such as woodlice. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons ...

after they have absorbed their yolk.

Behaviour and reproduction

Lumpsuckers are a poorly studied group, with little known of their behaviour and biology. At least some species are known to travel great distances in order to

spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawning, the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** ''Spawn: Armageddon' ...

in shallow, intertidal waters (from December to June in the smooth lumpsucker); this may well be true of all species. Males are also known to guard the brood of spherical eggs. One of the peculiarities of lumpsuckers'

neural system In biology, the nervous system is the highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its actions and sensory information by transmitting signals to and from different parts of its body. The nervous system detects environmental changes t ...

s is that they lack

Mauthner cell The Mauthner cells are a pair of big and easily identifiable neurons (one for each half of the body) located in the rhombomere 4 of the hindbrain in fish and amphibians that are responsible for a very fast escape reflex (in the majority of animals � ...

neurons in their

hindbrain The hindbrain, rhombencephalon (shaped like a rhombus) is a developmental categorization of portions of the central nervous system in vertebrates. It includes the medulla, pons, and cerebellum. Together they support vital bodily processes. Met ...

, while these cells are present in virtually all other

teleost Teleostei (; Ancient Greek, Greek ''teleios'' "complete" + ''osteon'' "bone"), members of which are known as teleosts (), is, by far, the largest group of ray-finned fishes (class Actinopterygii), with 96% of all neontology, extant species of f ...

fish. Nevertheless, lumpsuckers do have a C-startle response, which is apparently mediated by other hindbrain cells. Hatchlings have well-developed pectoral fins and adhesive pelvic discs, which the fish use to cling to rocks in shallow water. Young fish remain in shallow, warmer water until fully developed.

Pacific cod The Pacific cod (''Gadus macrocephalus)'' is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Gadidae. It is a bottom-dwelling fish found in the northern Pacific Ocean, mainly on the continental shelf and upper slopes, to depths of about . It can grow ...

and

sablefish The sablefish (''Anoplopoma fimbria'') is one of two members of the fish family Anoplopomatidae and the only species in the genus ''Anoplopoma''. In English, common names for it include sable (US), butterfish (US), black cod (US, UK, Canada), ...

are known

predator Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

s of lumpsuckers.

Fishers and the lumpsucker industry

The only species that is targeted commercially is ''

'', which is targeted primarily for its roe in Canada, Greenland, Iceland, and Norway, and to a lesser extent in Denmark and Sweden. ''Cyclopterus lumpus'' are also caught from the wild to provide broodstock for the

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. Nelu ...

industry, where the fish is used as a

cleaner fish Cleaner fish are fish that show a specialist feeding strategy by providing a service to other species, referred to as clients, by removing dead skin, ectoparasites, and infected tissue from the surface or gill chambers. This example of cleaning ...

to remove

sea lice Sea lice (singular: sea louse) are copepods (small crustaceans) of the family Caligidae within the order Siphonostomatoida. They are marine ectoparasites (external parasites) that feed on the mucus, epidermal tissue, and blood of host fish. Th ...

in salmon aquaculture.

Species

There are about 30 species in eight genera: * Genus '' Aptocyclus'' De la Pylaie, 1835 ** ''

Aptocyclus ventricosus The smooth lumpfish (''Aptocyclus ventricosus'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cyclopteridae, the lumpfishes and lumpsuckers. This species is found in the northern Pacific Ocean. It is the only species in the mon ...

'' (

Pallas Pallas may refer to: Astronomy * 2 Pallas asteroid ** Pallas family, a group of asteroids that includes 2 Pallas * Pallas (crater), a crater on Earth's moon Mythology * Pallas (Giant), a son of Uranus and Gaia, killed and flayed by Athena * Pa ...

, 1769) (Smooth lumpsucker) * Genus '' Cyclopsis'' Popov, 1930 ** '' Cyclopsis tentacularis'' Popov, 1930 * Genus '' Cyclopteropsis'' Soldatov & Popov, 1929 ** ''

Cyclopteropsis bergi ''Cyclopteropsis bergi'' is a species of lumpfish native to the Northwest Pacific, where it is found at depths of 20 to 200 m (66 to 656 ft). This species reaches 7 cm (2.1 in) in total length and occurs in the Bering Sea, the Sea of Okhotsk, and ...

'' Popov, 1929 ** ''

Cyclopteropsis brashnikowi ''Cyclopteropsis brashnikowi'' is a species of lumpfish native to the Sea of Okhotsk and the Northwest Pacific off of the Kuril Islands, where it is found at a depth of . Adult individuals of the species have been noted to resemble the related sp ...

'' ( P. Y. Schmidt, 1904) ** '' Cyclopteropsis inarmatus'' Mednikov ( ru) & Prokhorov, 1956 (Bumpy lumpsucker) ** '' Cyclopteropsis jordani'' Soldatov, 1929 (Smooth lumpfish) ** '' Cyclopteropsis lindbergi'' Soldatov, 1930 ** '' Cyclopteropsis mcalpini'' ( Fowler, 1914) (Arctic lumpsucker) ** '' Cyclopteropsis popovi'' Soldatov, 1929 * Genus '' Cyclopterus''

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

, 1758 ** ''

, 1758 (Lumpsucker) * Genus ''

Eumicrotremus ''Eumicrotremus'' is a genus of lumpfishes native to the northern oceans. The name for this genus comes from the Greek roots ''eu'' meaning "good", ''mikros'' meaning "small" or "little", and ''trema'' meaning "hole". Taxonomy ''Eumicrotremus'' ...

'' T. N. Gill, 1862 ** ''

Eumicrotremus andriashevi ''Eumicrotremus andriashevi'', also known as the pimpled lumpsucker, is a species of lumpfish native to the Arctic and North Pacific. In addition to the Arctic Ocean, it may be found in the Chukchi and Bering Seas, where it occurs at a depth ran ...

'' Perminov, 1936 *** '' E. a. aculeatus'' Voskoboinikova & Nazarkin, 2015 (Andriashev's spicular-spiny pimpled lumpsucker) *** '' E. a. andriashevi'' Perminov, 1936 (Andriashev's spiny pimpled lumpsucker) ** ''

Eumicrotremus asperrimus ''Eumicrotremus asperrimus'', also known as the Siberian lumpsucker, is a species of Cyclopteridae, lumpfish native to the Northwest Pacific, where it can be found in the Bering Sea, the Sea of Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk, as well as off of Alaska ...

'' ( S. Tanaka (I), 1912) **''

D. S. Jordan David Starr Jordan (January 19, 1851 – September 19, 1931) was the founding president of Stanford University, serving from 1891 to 1913. He was an ichthyologist during his research career. Prior to serving as president of Stanford Universi ...

& Snyder, 1902 ** ''

Eumicrotremus derjugini ''Eumicrotremus derjugini'', also known as the leatherfin lumpsucker or petite poule de mer Arctique (meaning "small Arctic sea hen" in French), is a species of lumpfish native to the Arctic, the North Atlantic, and the North Pacific. It is know ...

'' Popov, 1926 (Leather-fin lumpsucker) ** '' Eumicrotremus eggvinii'' Koefoed, 1956 ** ''

Eumicrotremus gyrinops ''Eumicrotremus gyrinops'', known as the Alaskan lumpsucker, is a species of lumpfish native to the Bering Sea and the Aleutian Islands. It is a small demersal fish that occurs at a depth range of and reaches SL. References gyrinops ...

'' (

Garman Garman is a surname or first name. Notable people with the name include: Sports * Ann Garman, All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player * Judi Garman (born 1954), American softball coach * Mike Garman (born 1949), American baseball pla ...

, 1892) **''

Eumicrotremus jindoensis ''Eumicrotremus jindoensis'' is a species of lumpfish native to the Northwest Pacific, where it may be found off the coast of the Korean Peninsula and in the Yellow Sea. The specific name "jindoensis" is derived from the type locality, Jin-do ...

'' S. J. Lee, J.-K. Kim, Y. Kai, S. Ikeguchi, & T. Nakabo, 2017 ** ''

Eumicrotremus orbis The Pacific spiny lumpsucker (''Eumicrotremus orbis'') is a species of bony fish in the family Cyclopteridae. Description Pacific spiny lumpsuckers are a globular-shaped fish that typically measures in length, though the most common size is . ...

'' ( Günther, 1861) (Pacific spiny lumpsucker) ** ''

Eumicrotremus pacificus ''Eumicrotremus pacificus'', sometimes known as the spotted lumpsucker or the balloon lumpfish, is a species of lumpfish native to the Northwest Pacific. It can be found in the Sea of Okhotsk, the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea, and the Pacific ...

'' P. Y. Schmidt, 1904 ** ''

Eumicrotremus phrynoides The toad lumpsucker (''Eumicrotremus phrynoides'') is a species of fish in the family Cyclopteridae that can be found in the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska, where it occurs at depths of . It is a demersal The demersal zone is the part of th ...

'' C. H. Gilbert &

Burke Burke (; ) is a Normans in Ireland, Norman-Irish surname, deriving from the ancient Anglo-Norman and Hiberno-Norman noble dynasty, the House of Burgh. In Ireland, the descendants of William de Burgh (''circa'' 1160–1206) had the surname'' de B ...

, 1912 (Toad lumpsucker) ** '' Eumicrotremus schmidti''

Lindberg Lindberg is a municipality in the district of Regen in Bavaria in Germany in the immediate neighbourhood of the larger town Zwiesel. Location Lindberg lies in the Danube Forest (''Donau-Wald'') region in the middle of the Bavarian Forest on ...

& Legeza, 1955 ** ''

Eumicrotremus spinosus ''Eumicrotremus spinosus'', commonly known as the Atlantic spiny lumpsucker, is a species of Cyclopteridae, lumpfish native to the Arctic Ocean, Arctic and Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. Taxonomy ''Eumicrotremus spinosus'' was first formally Sp ...

'' ( J. C. Fabricius, 1776) (Atlantic spiny lumpsucker) ** '' Eumicrotremus taranetzi'' Perminov, 1936 ** '' Eumicrotremus tartaricus''

& Legeza, 1955 ** ''

Eumicrotremus terraenovae ''Eumicrotremus terraenovae'', also known as the Newfoundland spiny lumpsucker, is a species of lumpfish native to the Northwest Atlantic. It is a demersal fish found off of Newfoundland and in the Gulf of Maine The Gulf of Maine is a large g ...

'' G. S. Myers & J. E. Böhlke, 1950 **''

Eumicrotremus uenoi ''Eumicrotremus uenoi'' is a species of lumpfish native to the Northwest Pacific. It is found off the Korean Peninsula and Japan, where it occurs at a depth range of 90 to 100 m (295 to 328 ft). It is a very small demersal fish, reaching 2& ...

'' S. J. Lee, J.-K. Kim, Y. Kai, S. Ikeguchi, & T. Nakabo, 2017 * Genus ''

Georgimarinus ''Eumicrotremus barbatus'', the papillose lumpsucker, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cyclopteridae, the lumpfishes or lumpsuckers, found in the north Pacific Ocean. This species is characterized by the following un ...

'' Voskoboinikova & Nazarkin, 2015 ** '' Georgimarinus barbatus'' (

& Legeza, 1955) * Genus ''

Lethotremus ''Lethotremus'' is a monospecific genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cyclopteridae, the lumpfishes or lumpsuckers. This genus is found in the northern Pacific Ocean. Following a 2017 taxonomic review by Lee et al., the specie ...

'' C. H. Gilbert, 1896 ** ''

Lethotremus muticus ''Lethotremus'' is a monospecific genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cyclopteridae, the lumpfishes or lumpsuckers. This genus is found in the northern Pacific Ocean. Following a 2017 taxonomic review by Lee et al., the specie ...

'' C. H. Gilbert, 1896 * Genus ''

Microancathus ''Eumicrotremus'' is a genus of lumpfishes native to the northern oceans. The name for this genus comes from the Greek roots ''eu'' meaning "good", ''mikros'' meaning "small" or "little", and ''trema'' meaning "hole". Taxonomy ''Eumicrotremus'' ...

'' Voskoboinikova, 2015 ** ''

Microancathus fedorovi ''Eumicrotremus fedorovi'' is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cyclopteridae, the lumpfishes or lumpsuckers. This species is found in the northwestern Pacific Ocean around the Kuril Islands. It is a demersal fish that oc ...

'' (

Mandritsa Mandritsa (, "Small dairy"; ) is a village in southernmost Bulgaria, part of Ivaylovgrad municipality, Haskovo Province. It is known as the only Albanians, Albanian village in Bulgaria. As of 14 December 2006, Mandritsa has a population of 75. It ...

, 1991) (Fedorov's lumpsucker) ** '' Microancathus tokranovi'' Voskoboinikova, 2015 (Tokranov's lumpsucker) *Genus '' Proeumicrotremus'' Voskoboinikova & Orlov, 2020 ** '' Proeumicrotremus soldatovi'' (Popov, 1930)

References

{{Authority control Cyclopteridae Cyclopteroidea Articles containing video clips Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte