The Adorable Little Fish With a Suction Cup for a Belly

[Narrator] If you didn't think fish could be cute,

first of all, how dare you.

Second of all, just look at the spiny lumpsucker.

While your typical fish has a streamlined body

that cuts neatly through the water,

the lumpsucker is more spherical.

That's because it lives a radically different life.

Since the lumpsucker is a lousy swimmer,

it sticks to the seafloor, like, literally sticks.

It's pelvic fins have evolved into a suction cup,

and that's key because unlike other fish,

it lacks a swim bladder, which normally helps

maintain neutral buoyancy.

Sticking to a rock means the fish can sustain its position

without having to constantly correct, thus saving energy.

So the lumpsucker isn't what you call a voracious hunter.

It simply hoovers up worms and other critters

even more sluggish than itself.

And check out the surface of the fish.

It isn't actually made of scales, but plates,

each tipped with a tiny spine.

That just might help keep them out of other animals' mouths,

not that you should even be eating something so cute.

I mean, come on, look at this thing.