Judging by its name alone, you might expect the Pacific spiny lumpsucker to be a fearsome creature. But divers often describe the fish as cute and comical. They’re small and round, they don’t swim well, and they’ll even eat from a diver’s hand. So, despite the name, the Pacific spiny lumpsucker is nothing to fear.
The fish is typically no more than an inch or two across. It’s found near the coast from Washington State to northern Japan. It lives mainly in shallow waters close to shore.
Many species of egg-laying animals decide when it’s time for their offspring to leave the nest, but a little fish known as the neon goby takes that a step further. They decide when their young will even hatch from their eggs. Leaving their eggs is a precarious time for any animal because the new hatchlings are at their most vulnerable. Typically, the timing of hatching depends on the embryo or on external environmental cues, such as temperature. But for neon gobies, fathers seem to know the best time to introduce their little ones to the world.
