Lumpfish

This is the time of year when a lumpfish turns his mind to thoughts of family.  He not only turns his mind, but turns his skin colour too.

For most of the year, a lumpfish is blue grey in colour, but during the breeding season, the male turns orange.  Not only that, but the male guards the eggs too.

When I was diving, I always enjoyed running into these cute little fellows, so when the Huntsman Aquarium asked me to do a painting of sea life, I chose a lumpfish to paint.

They are not particularly streamlined, nor do they have big fins and powerful swimming muscles.  In fact, quite often when the tide is running hard, they simply cannot swim against it.  Quite often around the herring weirs, we would see lumpfish pressed against the twine by the tide, unable to swim against the current.