''Diplecogaster bimaculata'', the two-spotted clingfish, is a species of

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Gobiesocidae Clingfishes are fishes of the family Gobiesocidae, the only family in the order Gobiesociformes. These fairly small to very small fishes are widespread in tropical and temperate regions, mostly near the coast, but a few species in deeper seas or ...

found in

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

and

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

where it is found on rocks and among seagrass or shell beds.

Description

The species has

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral surface of fish. The paired pelvic fins are homologous to the hindlimbs of tetrapods. Structure and function Structure In actinopterygians, the pelvic fin consists of two en ...

s modified to create a sucker which is used for clinging to rocks or other hard surfaces. It shows variable colouration and its body is frequently coloured red and is spotted with violet, blue, brown or yellow, and they have a yellowish ventral surface. They are

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

and the males show a purple spot, surrounded by yellow, immediately to the rear of their

pectoral fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...

. It has a flattened body and a small head, which is roughly triangular in shape. The single

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal co ...

and

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

are situated posteriorly near to the tail and both are separate from the

caudal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

which sits at the end of a long caudal peduncle. It has large eyes and a short snout which ends in large, fleshy lips and very small gill openings. This is a small fish which grows to in

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

. ''D. bimaculata'' can be confused with the similar ''

Apletodon dentatus ''Apletodon dentatus'', the small-headed clingfish, is a species of clingfish from the family Gobiesocidae. It is a benthic fish of shallow, rocky water on the coasts of the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the western Mediterranean Sea. Description ...

'', although the two-spotted clingfish extends much further north than the small-headed clingfish, and the best way to distinguish them is from their teeth, which in this species are small and conical and grow in patches and there are no large canine teeth.

Distribution

''Diplecogaster bimaculata'' is found in the northeastern Atlantic from

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denmar ...

in Norway and the

Faroes The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway betw ...

south to

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

; its range includes

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

, the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

and the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

, as well as the

as far east as the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

Habitat and biology

Most commonly found in areas of rocky substrates, ''D. bimaculata'' is also frequently spotted in beds of

seagrass Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and Cymodoceaceae), all in the orde ...

es and

bivalve Bivalvia (), in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of marine and freshwater molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hinged parts. As a group, bival ...

banks, where there is an abundance of empty mollusc shells for the fish to shelter in. It has been recorded from the intertidal zone down to depths of . The eggs are laid in the spring and summer with the parents guarding the egg mass, which is normally laid under a stone or in an empty shell. The larvae and the juvenile fish are

pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or wa ...

but quickly move to a

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...

habit. The major part of its diet is small

crustaceans Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

. It has been photographed

cleaning Cleaning is the process of removing unwanted substances, such as dirt, infectious agents, and other impurities, from an object or environment. Cleaning is often performed for aesthetic, hygienic, functional, environmental, or safety purposes. Cl ...

Mediterranean moray The Mediterranean moray (sometimes also called Roman eel, ''Muraena helena'', ''زريمباية'') is a fish of the moray eel family. It has a long eel-like body and is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Its bite can be d ...

(''Muraena helena'').

Name

It was described as ''Cyclopterus bimaculatus'' in 1788 by Pierre Joseph Bonnaterre and was designated as the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

of the genus ''

Diplecogaster ''Diplecogaster'' is a genus of fish in the family (biology), family Gobiesocidae found in Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. Species There are currently 7 recognized species in this genus: * ''Diplecogaster bimaculata'' (Pierre Jo ...

'' by

Alec Fraser-Brunner Alec Frederick Fraser-Brunner (born 6 April 1906—died 17 Sept 1986) was a British ichthyologist. His career included work with the Colonial Office, the Food and Agriculture Organization, and as the curator of the Van Kleef Aquarium in Singapore a ...

in 1938. The specific name ''bimaculata'' refers to the two dark spots on either side of the adhesive sucker while the generic name is a compound of ''di'' meaning "two", ''pleco'' meaning "fold" and ''gaster'' meaning belly, a reference to the double-type sucker of this genus.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2497222 bimaculata Marine fish of Europe Fish of the Atlantic Ocean Fish of the Mediterranean Sea Fish described in 1788 Taxa named by Pierre Joseph Bonnaterre

Description

Distribution

Habitat and biology

Name

See also

References