Very beautiful, very powerful

Oh you know we’re suckers for lumpfish!! Lumpfish may look otherworldly, in part because they love to cling on: Modified pelvic fins form a round suction cup that helps lumpfish stick around and save energy. In fact, their family name “Cyclopteridae” comes from Greek words for “circle” and “fin”!

Lumpfish are so-named for their ridged, bumpy texture created by fleshy knobs known as tubercles.

Denizens of the deep in adulthood, lumpfish migrate to shallower waters to breed, leaving little clumps of lumps to develop in warmer temperatures before returning to more frigid depths.

Find out more about lumpfish and check them out for yourself in our latest exhibition “Into the Deep: Exploring Our Undiscovered Ocean”!