Pacific spiny lumpsucker

Pacific spiny lumpsucker (Eumicrotremus orbis)

Very round body covered with spiny cone-shaped protuberances. Eyes quite large, mouth small with thick lips. Pelvic fins modified to support a large adhesive sucking disc on the belly of the fish. Variable colors, ranging from olive green to yellowish or mauve. Female are usually larger than males, and sport more conical protuberances.

A lot of people who see Pacific spiny lumpsuckers for the first time describe them as a ping-pong ball with fins. They are tiny and very inefficient swimmers, found most often in kelp or eelgrass beds attached to a rock or a log no deeper than 500 feet. They are quite common, ranging from the waters off the Washington coast, up around the arc of the Aleutian Islands, to the Asian mainland and the northern islands of Japan, and in the Bering Sea. A giant Pacific spiny lumpsucker is five inches long, but most are closer to an inch. Scuba divers are their biggest fans because the little fellows will eat right out of their hands.