The Great Smoky Mountain Journal
Source:
Tuesday, January 01, 2019 02:43 PM
Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker Looks Like "Demonic" Eyed Fish
That's the conclusion Leo Smith, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at The University of Kansas, drew as he researched different techniques to capture head-on images of the fish's skeleton for a method paper. He plans to submit his findings to the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists.
"Inherently, it's like Cartman from 'South Park,'" Smith told Fox News, adding that it's one of his favorite fish. "They're really cute. They're fun. These guys are best known for their pelvic sucking discs, so they can hold onto things like little rocks."
He stripped the creature down to its skeleton and cartilage, dunking the fish in cow-stomach enzymes to get rid of its muscle, stained the body with colorful dye and then encased it in gelatin and glycerin -- which is "relatively cheap and gooey to the touch." This allowed him to see the blob-like fish's coat of armor clearly.
