Lumpsuckers are Handsome!

Jessica Taylor · Issue 18, Apr/May 2004 · pp. 31–34

Products mentioned: Nikon F801, Nikon F90X, Subal housing, 60mm macro, 105mm macro, Fuji Velvia, Kodak EBX, YS50, Subatec S100, Inon Quad flash, Nexus wet lens

31 Underwater photographers just love strange looking fish, in fact the stranger the better it seems and we spend small fortunes travelling the globe to find and photograph them. This is all very well if you can afford it, but what can you do if you are limited to our own temperate waters? There are a few candidates here which include monk fish, gurnards, pipefish and scorpion fish. But perhaps the strangest and most striking of all is also potentially to most cooperative photographic subject which, once discovered, you can return to for several weeks to perfect your shots - I am of course referring to the lumpsucker which frequents our shallow reefs in early spring. Although the lumpsucker (Cyclopterus lumpus) is quite common in our temperate waters, it is not often seen as it spends most of the year in deep water until it is time to breed. Early to mid- spring is the breeding period fo…