Cyclopterus
Cyclopterus lumpus
— Where the name comes from
Cyclopterus is “circle fin”, from kýklos and pterón: the pelvic fins are fused into an adhesive disc with which it sticks to rocks. Lumpus is a Latinisation of a Germanic word meaning roughly “lump”, and it is an honest description: the body is squat, ungainly and covered in bony tubercles.
— Facts
- Group
- Fish · Actinopterygii · Chondrichthyes
- Order
- Scorpionfishes
- Habitat
- Coastal rocky bottoms and open sea, down to 300 metres
- Range
- The northern Atlantic and Arctic seas
- Size
- 30–50 cm, up to 60 cm; 2–5 kg
- Diet
- Jellyfish, crustaceans, worms, small fish
- Lifespan
- 13 years
— Characteristics
- 01
It swims very badly: it drifts and sticks to whatever it can.
- 02
The male turns red in the breeding season and guards the eggs for two months.
- 03
Its roe, dyed black or red, is sold as a caviar substitute.
— What sets it apart
For about ten years it has had a new job: cleaning up in salmon farms. Put into the cages with the salmon, these fish eat the sea lice that infest Norwegian and Scottish farms, cutting the use of chemical treatments; tens of millions a year are now bred for the purpose alone. A whole industry has grown up around a fish that until recently was of interest only for its roe, with the problems that follow — mortality in the cages is high, and the question of their welfare is open.
