CHAPTER V.
LUMP-SUCKERS, GOBIES, BLENNIES, BARRACUDAS, GREY MULLETS, STICKLEBACKS AND THEIR ALLIES, GARPIKE, AND FLYING-FISHES.
BY W. P. PYCRAFT, A.L.S., F.Z.S.
Ugly in appearance and carnivorous in habits, the Sucker-fish Family are distinguished by the presence of a large round sucker on the belly, with which they adhere to rocks. Furthermore, the sucker-fishes are remarkable for the softness of their skeleton, which may be cut through at any point with an ordinary knife. The male lump-sucker is smaller than the female, but much more brightly coloured, especially during the breeding-season, when he dons a livery of blue, scarlet, and yellow. He is also a model parent, always remaining near the eggs and keeping a constant stream of fresh water running over them by the action of his breast-fins. A single female may produce as many as 136,000 eggs in a single season. In Scotland the male is known as the Cock and the female as the Hen Paddle. The species is more common off the coasts of Scotland than elsewhere in the British Islands.
Like the Lump-suckers, the Gobies, which form the next family, have the ventral fins modified so as to form a sucking-disk, which is used as an anchor. But the gobies are easily distinguished by their smaller size, elongated bodies, hard skeleton, and the disposition and structure of the fins, characters which need not be discussed further.
One species, the Spotted Goby, or Pole-wing, found in the Thames, is noteworthy on account of its nest-building habits. The male chooses the empty shell of a cockle or mussel, selecting one with its concave surface downwards. Beneath this the sand is cleared away and cemented by a special glue-like secretion formed by the skin of the fish. A cylindrical tunnel is then built to give access to the nest, and the whole is covered over with loose stones. In the nest-chamber formed by the shell the eggs are laid, the male immediately after mounting guard over them till they hatch, which they do in about nine days.
Photo by Reinhold Thiele & Co.] [Chancery Lane, W.C.
LUMP-SUCKER.
Known also as the Cock and Hen Paddle.