A
lot of people who see Pacific spiny lumpsuckers for the first time
describe them as a ping-pong ball with fins. They are tiny and very
inefficient swimmers, found most often in kelp or eelgrass beds
attached to a rock or a log no deeper than 500 feet. They are quite
common, ranging from the waters off the Washington coast, up around
the arc of the Aleutian Islands, to the Asian mainland and the northern
islands of Japan, and in the Bering Sea. A giant Pacific spiny lumpsucker
is five inches long, but most are closer to an inch. Scuba divers
are their biggest fans because the little fellows will eat right
out of their hands.