Pacific spiny lumpsucker

Eumicrotremus orbis · The Pacific spiny lumpsucker is a fish found from northern Washington state to Alaska's Aleutian Islands, the Bering and Chukchi Seas, and northern Japan.

Pacific spiny lumpsucker
Photo: David Csepp, NMFS/AKFSC/ABL, Public domain
Pacific spiny lumpsucker
Photo: incidencematrix, CC BY 2.0
Pacific spiny lumpsucker
Photo: incidencematrix, CC BY 2.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassActinopterygii
OrderPerciformes
FamilyCyclopteridae
GenusEumicrotremus
SpeciesEumicrotremus orbis

Where it lives

Cold coastal waters from Japan and the Bering Sea to Washington State.

Fun facts

  • Pacific spiny lumpsuckers have no gas bladder—their suction-cup pelvic fins help make up for it.
  • They cling to rocks with a suction-cup mouth while sleeping so currents don't sweep them away.
  • Males flash a rare red fluorescence when near females to signal they're ready to mate.
  • Diligent lumpsucker dads guard the egg nest alone for three to eight weeks until they hatch.

Play it

The Pacific spiny lumpsucker was the creature in a regional daily on October 19, 2026. Can you identify tomorrow's from its photos? Every day brings a new creature to place from kingdom to genus, map and name.

Play today's creature or replay a past daily

Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).