Adorable Spiny Lumpsuckers

Mid-week dose of cute! Meet the spiny lumpsuckers. Despite having lumpy skin, bulgy eyes, a puffy body and suction cups, these little golf balls with fins are absolutely adorable. They’re not great at swimming, so they attach themselves to kelp, eelgrass or rocks around Pacific Northwest waters.

[@rosem6604]

I've learned a new thing just now. Never knew they existed. Thanks for that. And yes, they are adorable :)

[@lauradent5420]

Good Lord, they ARE adorable!!!

[@Blakeneyd]

They are ridiculously adorable

[@indyreno2933]

Mail-cheeked fish are spiny-rayed fish of the order Scorpaeniformes, there are over two-thousand, one-hundred, and eighteen extant species within forty families, fourteen superfamilies, and five suborders, the five main groups within the Scorpaeniformes order are the suborders Normanichthyoidei (Bacaladillo, Prettyfin, and Sandfish), Platycephaloidei (Flatheads and Gurnards), Zoarcoidei (Eelpouts, Wolffish, Wolfeel, Pricklebacks, Wrymouths, Gunnels, Goblin Goby, Graveldiver, Ronquils, and Quillfish), Cottoidei (Sculpins, Lumpsuckers, Snailfish, Greenlings, Blackcod, and Combfish), and Scorpaenoidei (Scorpionfish, Lionfish, Stonefish, Coral Crouchers, Rockfish, Cofish, Prowfish, Toad Blenny, Horsefish, and Pigfish), Normanichthyoidei is the most basal living suborder of mail-cheeked fish and consists of two superfamilies, Trichodontoidea with just the family Trichodontidae (Sandfish) and Normanichthyoidea with the monotypic families Normanichthyidae (Bacaladillo) and Centrogenyidae (Prettyfin), followed by Platycephaloidei, which consists of two superfamilies being Trigloidea (Gurnards) with the families Triglidae (Common Gurnards), Peristediidae (Armored Gurnards), and Dactylopteridae (Flying Gurnards) and Platycephaloidea (Flatheads) with the families Platycephalidae (True Flatheads), Hoplichthyidae (Ghost Flatheads), and Bembridae (Deepwater Flatheads), then followed by Zoarcoidei, which consists of four superfamilies, Bathymasteroidea (Ronquils and Quillfish) with the families Bathymasteridae (Ronquils) and Ptilichthyidae (Quillfish), Zaproroidea (Goblin Goby and Graveldiver) with the monotypic families Zaproridae (Goblin Goby) and Scytalinidae (Graveldiver), Zoarcoidea (Eelpouts) with the families Eulophiidae (Spinous Eelpouts) and Zoarcidae (True Eelpouts), and Anarhichadoidea (Wolffish, Wolfeel, Pricklebacks, Wrymouths, and Gunnels) with the families Pholidae (Gunnels), Cryptacanthodidae (Wrymouths), Stichaeidae (Pricklebacks), and Anarhichadidae (Wolffish and Wolfeel), the most recent split is between the suborders Cottoidei and Scorpaenoidei, the Cottoidei suborder contains three superfamilies, Hexagrammoidea (Greenlings, Blackcod, and Combfish) with the families Zaniolepididae (Combfish), Anoplopomatidae (Blackcod), and Hexagrammidae (Greenlings), Cyclopteroidea (Lumpsuckers and Snailfish) with the families Liparidae (Snailfish) and Cyclopteridae (Lumpsuckers), and Cottoidea (Sculpins) with the families Agonidae (Poachers), Rhamphocottidae (Gruntfish), Bathylutichthyidae (Antarctic Sculpins), Ereuniidae (Deepwater Bullhead Sculpins), Psychrolutidae (Fathead Sculpins), Comephoridae (Baikal Sculpins), Hemitripteridae (Sea Ravens), and Cottidae (Common Sculpins), and the Scorpaenoidei suborder is also divided into three superfamilies, Congiopodoidea (Horsefish, Pigfish, and Velvetfish) with the families Aploactinidae (Velvetfish) and Congiopodidae (Horsefish and Pigfish), Pataecoidea (Prowfish and Toad Blenny) with the families Gnathanacanthidae (Toad Blenny) and Pataecidae (Prowfish), and Scorpaenoidea (Scorpionfish, Lionfish, Stonefish, Coral Crouchers, Rockfish, and Cofish) with the families Eschmeyeridae (Cofish), Sebastidae (Rockfish), Pteroidae (Lionfish, Stonefish, and Coral Crouchers), and Scorpaenidae (Scorpionfish).

[@Happy_HIbiscus]

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