A mile or two eastward of Babbicombe and Petit Tor, in from ten to
fifteen fathoms water, there lies a stretch of flat stony bottom,
reaching away from the island known as the Ore Stone, towards the
mouth of the river Exe. This is a bit of ground to which a boatman
whom I occasionally employ often resorts with the dredge, and rarely
or never without a fair harvest of curious and interesting creatures.
Among other things he brings me from time to time numerous specimens
of what Yarrell calls the Bimaculated Sucker;[86] the propriety of
which name will be evident the moment you examine one of these little
fishes alive. Cuvier named the group in which they are found (a group
comprising very few species) _Discoboles_, because the ventral pair
of fins are united so as to form a circular disk or saucer, by means
of which the fishes have the power of adhering firmly to any solid
object larger than the circumference of the disk. Yarrell substitutes
the term _Cyclopteridæ_ for the family group; the name _Cyclopterus_,
used for the principal genus, expressing the same thing, that the fins
are united in a circular fashion. The word _bimaculatus_, signifying
two-spotted, alludes to two remarkable and conspicuous oval spots of
dark purplish brown or red, situated one on each side of the body, just
behind the pectoral fin. These spots, being comparatively large, and
separated from the general colour of the body by a well-defined white
ring, constitute a very striking and beautiful feature in these little
fishes.
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