Pacific spiny lumpsucker
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Pacific spiny lumpsucker, Eumicrotremus orbis

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.

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