Normally found in the cold waters of the Arctic, North Atlantic, and North Pacific ocean, this unusual-looking lumpsucker fish was discovered on the dock at Dun Laoghaire Marina on Dublin Bay this morning.
"The Icelandic fish them for their eggs, as false caviar as the eggs are black", according to Dr Kevin Flannery of Mara Beo in Dingle County Kerry.
Lumpsuckers or lumpfish are mostly small scorpaeniform marine fish of the family Cyclopteridae.
While the greatest number of species are found in the North Pacific, Dr Flannery provides a clue as to how this one might have found its way into the capital's waters. "They are now growing half a million of them in Bantry, County Cork for fish farms as they eat the lice and so replace chemicals and give natural biological upgrades to salmon farms," he says.
Nevertheless, it left Dublin berth holders scratching their heads how it ended up on the dock at Ireland's biggest marina this morning but the most likely scenario is that it was discarded by local fishermen and seagulls had a go at moving it on but found this Lump a bit heavy to carry.
