[3] In 1777 Giovanni Scopoli proposed the genus Liparis with Cyclopterus liparis as its only species although it was not designated as the type species until 1898 when David Starr Jordan and Barton Warren Evermann officially designated C. liparis as the type species of the genus.

[5] Liparis liparis is an unusual-looking fish with a large head and front part of the body and a laterally compressed posterior part of the body and large fringing fins.

The pelvic fins take the form of a large sucking disc located between the pectorals.

[6][2][7] Liparis liparis is native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean as far east as the Barents Sea, Novaya Zemlya, Spitsbergen and Bear Island and as far south as the British Isles.

The eggs hatch in 6–8 weeks and the larvae are pelagic, forming part of the plankton.