[6] In 1862 the American biologist Theodore Gill proposed a new genus Eumicrotremus with Fabricius's Cyclopterus spinosus designated as its type species.

[7] The Atlantic spiny lumpsucker is a small fish that reaches a maximum length of 13.2 cm (5.2 in).

The species appears to be variable in color but typically ranges from brown to dull orange or red.

They are known from the Barents Sea, Svalbard, Franz Josef Land, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, the Hudson Bay, and the Canadian Arctic, as well as ranging south to Massachusetts.

They occur at depths of 30 to 400 m (98 to 1312 ft), where they are most frequently seen over and on stony bottoms.