lumpsucker

[dixons53]

Was out digging last night down by the white post in seaham, the tide did not drop enough as there was some big washes still running up it, so decided to have a look amongst the rocks there to try and get a few peeler's. I found a strange looking fish strandered in a small pool of water. never seen one in my life. there was a lad fishing on the white post so I put it in a bucket of water and took it up to see if he could identify it, he had not seen one before either. I put it back and ended up finding half a dozen more of these, all in the pools of water in amongst the boulders and kelp, one of which had attached itself to a rock, after seeing that I remembered seen a pic of one and remembered the name being lump sucker. I did not have a camera on my phone to get a pic, but have searched it on the internet and have found a picture of one, and it is 100% the same as what I found.

has anybody seen these on our coast before or know anything about them

[ryo123]

Scorpon fish I d say but not the best at species of fish or another name granny fish

[Persues]

I've found a few in the rockpools at St Mary's over the years and you often see them washed up on the beach after a decent sea.

My 5 year old daughter wouldn't go near the last one we found - she said it wasn't a nice fish and I didn't push the point.

Used to see them often when I fished the rocks over Cambois during warmer weather.

[TerryC]

Good chance it is a Lumpsucker. They come close to shore in the spring to lay eggs in the shallower warmer water, usually under overhanging boulders. I often used to find them around Cullercoats on big tides flapping around as they won't leave their eggs even when the water is very shallow. If I recall both male and female guard the eggs. If you pick one up they feel like velvet and rather rubbery.

[billyturbot]

Story from june 2010

Lumpsucker fish caught in Blyth in the North Sea

Lumpsuckers range in size from two centimetres up to 50 centimetres

Two lumpsucker fish, a male and a female, have been caught in the North Sea by a fisherman in Blyth.
Unsure of what they were, the fisherman took them into the Blue Reef Aquarium in Tynemouth.
The two fish are already showing signs of breeding and it is hoped that they will eventually start producing eggs of their own.
They are now being looked after at the aquarium and are on show for people to see up close.
'Least graceful fish'

Lumpsucker facts
The eggs are commonly eaten as caviar.
Lumpsuckers are scaleless, flabby fish named for the large sucking disc on their underside.
They feed on a variety of animals including crustaceans, small fish, worms, fish eggs and comb jellies.
The fish can look quite unusual because their pelvic fins are adapted to form a powerful sucker on their undersides which become useful for clinging to rocks, allowing the male to stay anchored to the rocks beside his eggs.
Lumpsuckers breeding occurs from January to May when they move inshore and spawn, usually amongst kelp and the male protects the clump of up to 200,000 eggs from predators until they hatch.
Blue Reef's Zahra d'Aronville said: "Lumpsuckers get their name from specially adapted pelvic fins on their bellies which form a suction cup.
"They've been described as one of the marine world's least graceful fish and they certainly look strange with their scaleless blue-green skin and deep bodies covered with bony lumps."

[jameswlong1941]

Its definately a lumpsucker and some people call them grannies they can give you a canny sting too if handled wrongly and they are often found rock pools during their hatching of their eggs and guard their young offspring for a whiles and its always during May to June you will find them okay m8.

[Mogthemackem]

A lump sucker and a granny fish are 2 totally different species as a granny fish is a scorpion fish. Also contrary to belief their sting doesn't really affect us, just can hurt a little if you get spiked. The lumpsuckers are reall popular down near whitburn and slthough never caught one myself have seen a few in the rockpools. They have a suction pad on their belly which helps in attach to the rocks. They look slightly different to the pic as I imagine that is one from different shores. They look a more like a wrasse than anything else.

[Mogthemackem]

A lump sucker and a granny fish are 2 totally different species as a granny fish is a scorpion fish. Also contrary to belief their sting doesn't really affect us, just can hurt a little if you get spiked. The lumpsuckers are reall popular down near whitburn and slthough never caught one myself have seen a few in the rockpools. They have a suction pad on their belly which helps in attach to the rocks. They look slightly different to the pic as I imagine that is one from different shores. Usually a reddy to browny colour

[big sid]

The wifes son pulled one out from one of the flooded dry docks at what was Smiths Docks North Shields. Niether of us knew what the hell it was so we took it to I.D. Fishing (Chillingham Rd) Mack identified and weighed it, tipped the scales at 9lb it was shades of blues and greens and sounded as if it was croaking. Strange looking fish.

[kopite2k06]

granny fish lumpsucker. two very different fish. just to confirm a granny fish aint venomous the only venomous fish in our sea is a weaver fish mate
. hope the pics work first time ive tried it ha ha

[dabcatcher]

i found one about 2lb stuck to the top of a rock one night.

they are usually ok if left till the tide comes in.