Remora - wikipedia Remora This article is about the remora family. For the genus, see Remora ( genus ). For the rescue vehicle, see Australian Submarine Rescue Vehicle Remora. Remora Common remora, Remora remora Scientific classification Kingdom : Animalia Phylum : Chordata Class : Actinopterygii Order : Perciformes Suborder : Percoidei Superfamily : Percoidea Family : Echeneidae Rafinesque, 1810 Genera Echeneis Phtheirichthys Remora Synonyms Echeneididae The remoras / ˈrɛmərəz /, sometimes called suckerfish, are a family ( Echeneidae ) of ray - finned fish in the order Perciformes. They grow to 7 -- 75 cm ( 2.8 in -- 2 ft 5.5 in ) long. Their distinctive first dorsal fins take the form of a modified oval, sucker - like organ with slat - like structures that open and close to create suction and take a firm hold against the skin of larger marine animals. The disk is made up of stout, flexible membranes that can be raised and lowered to generate suction. By sliding backward, the remora can increase the suction, or it can release itself by swimming forward. Remoras sometimes attach to small boats, and have been observed attaching to divers as well. They swim well on their own, with a sinuous, or curved, motion. Contents 1 Characteristics 2 Habitat 3 Physiology 4 Use for fishing 5 Mythology 6 Gallery 7 Timeline 8 See also 9 References 10 External links Characteristics Remora front dorsal fins have evolved to enable them to adhere by suction to smooth surfaces and they spend their lives clinging to a host animal such as a whale, turtle, shark or ray. It is probably a mutualistic arrangement as the remora can move around on the host, removing ectoparasites and loose flakes of skin, while benefiting from the protection provided by the host, and the constant flow of water across its gills. Although it was initially believed that remoras fed off particulate matter from the host 's meals, this has been shown a falsehood ; in reality their diets are primarily composed of host feces instead. Habitat Some remoras, such as this Echeneis naucrates, may attach themselves to scuba divers. Remoras are primarily tropical open - ocean dwellers, occasionally found in temperate or coastal waters if they have attached to large fish that have wandered into these areas. In the mid-Atlantic, spawning usually takes place in June and July ; in the Mediterranean, it occurs in August and September. The sucking disc begins to show when the young fish are about 1 cm ( 0.4 in ) long. When the remora reaches about 3 cm ( 1.2 in ), the disc is fully formed and the remora can then attach to other animals. The remora 's lower jaw projects beyond the upper, and the animal lacks a swim bladder. Some remoras associate primarily with specific host species. They are commonly found attached to sharks, manta rays, whales, turtles, and dugongs ( hence the common names `` sharksucker '' and `` whalesucker '' ). Smaller remoras also fasten onto fish such as tuna and swordfish, and some small remoras travel in the mouths or gills of large manta rays, ocean sunfish, swordfish and sailfish. The relationship between a remora and its host is most often taken to be one of commensalism, specifically phoresy. Though it was originally thought that the host to which it attaches for transport gains nothing from the relationship, research indicates that hosts also benefit, given that remoras feed on parasites ( such as copepods ) and clean sloughing epidermal tissue as well as ingesting scraps of food, feces, and small nekton and zooplankton. The remora benefits by using the host as transport and protection, and also feeds on materials dropped by the host. Controversy surrounds whether a remora 's diet is primarily leftover fragments, or the feces of the host. In some species ( Echeneis naucrates and E. neucratoides ), consumption of host feces is strongly indicated in gut dissections. For other species, such as those found in a host 's mouth, scavenging of leftovers is more likely. Physiology Research into the physiology of the remora has been of significant benefit to the understanding of ventilation costs in fish. Remoras, like many other fishes, have two different modes of ventilation. Ram ventilation is the process in which at higher speeds, the remora uses the force of the water moving past it to create movement of fluid in the gills. Alternatively, at lower speeds the remora will use a form of active ventilation, in which the fish actively moves fluid through its gills. In order to use active ventilation, a fish must actively use energy to move the fluid ; however, determining this energy cost is normally complicated due to the movement of the fish when using either method. As a result, the remora has proved invaluable in finding this cost difference, ( since they will stick to a shark or tube, and hence remain stationary despite the movement or lack thereof of water. ) Experimental data from studies on remora found that the associated cost for active ventilation created a 3.7 -- 5.1 % increased energy consumption in order to maintain the same quantity of fluid flow the fish obtained by using ram ventilation. Other research into the remora 's physiology came about as a result of studies across multiple taxa, or using the remora as an out - group for certain evolutionary studies. Concerning the latter case, remoras were used as an outgroup when investigating tetrodotoxin resistance in remoras, pufferfish, and related species, finding remoras ( specifically Echeneis naucrates ) had a resistance of 6.1 -- 5.5 × 10 M. Use for fishing Some cultures use remoras to catch turtles. A cord or rope is fastened to the remora 's tail, and when a turtle is sighted, the fish is released from the boat ; it usually heads directly for the turtle and fastens itself to the turtle 's shell, and then both remora and turtle are hauled in. Smaller turtles can be pulled completely into the boat by this method, while larger ones are hauled within harpooning range. This practice has been reported throughout the Indian Ocean, especially from eastern Africa near Zanzibar and Mozambique, and from northern Australia near Cape York and Torres Strait. Similar reports come from Japan and from the Americas. Some of the first records of the `` fishing fish '' in the Western literature come from the accounts of the second voyage of Christopher Columbus. However, Leo Wiener considers the Columbus accounts to be apocryphal : what was taken for accounts of the Americas may have been, in fact, notes Columbus derived from accounts of the East Indies, his desired destination. Mythology See also : Echeneis In ancient times, the remora was believed to stop a ship from sailing. In Latin, remora means `` delay '', while the genus name Echeneis comes from Greek εχειν, echein ( `` to hold '' ) and ναυς, naus ( `` a ship '' ). In a notable account by Pliny the Elder, the remora is blamed for the defeat of Mark Antony at the Battle of Actium and, indirectly, for the death of Caligula. A modern version of the story is given by Jorge Luis Borges in Book of Imaginary Beings ( 1957 ). Gallery Live sharksucker, Echeneis naucrates Common remora, Remora remora Nurse shark with remoras attending Timeline See also List of fish families References ^ Jump up to : Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. ( 2013 ). `` Echeneidae '' in FishBase. April 2013 version. Jump up ^ `` Echeneidae ''. Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 20 March 2006. Jump up ^ `` Sharksucker fish 's strange disc explained ''. Natural History Museum. 28 January 2013. Archived from the original on 1 February 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2013. Jump up ^ Beer, Amy - Jane. Derek Hall. ( 2012 ). The Illustrated World Encyclopedia of Marine Fish & Sea Creatures. Leicestershire : Lorenz Books. p. 235. ISBN 978 - 0 - 7548 - 2290 - 5. Jump up ^ Jackson, John ( 30 November 2012 ). `` How does the Remora develop its sucker ? ''. National History Museum. Retrieved 2 January 2016. Jump up ^ Williams, E.H. ; Mignucci - Giannoni, A.A. ; Bunkley - Williams, L. ; Bonde, R.K. ; Self - Sullivan, C. ; Preen, A. ; Cockcroft, V.G. ( 2003 ). `` Echeneid - sirenian associations, with information on sharksucker diet ''. Journal of Fish Biology. 63 ( 5 ) : 1176. doi : 10.1046 / j. 1095 - 8649.2003. 00236. x. Jump up ^ Cressey, R. ; Lachner, E. ( 1970 ). `` The parasitic copepod diet and life history of diskfishes ( Echeneidae ) ''. Copeia. 1970 ( 2 ) : 310 -- 318. JSTOR 1441652. doi : 10.2307 / 1441652. ^ Jump up to : Willmer, Pat ; Stone, Graham ; Johnston, Ian ( 2009 - 03 - 12 ). Environmental Physiology of Animals. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781444309225. Jump up ^ Steffensen, J.F. ; Lomholt, J.P. ( 1983 - 03 - 01 ). `` Energetic cost of active branchial ventilation in the sharksucker, Echeneis naucrates ''. Journal of Experimental Biology. 103 ( 1 ) : 185 -- 192. ISSN 0022 - 0949. PMID 6854201. Jump up ^ Kidokoro, Yoshiaki ; Grinnell, Alan D. ; Eaton, Douglas C. ( 1974 ). `` Tetrodotoxin sensitivity of muscle action potentials in pufferfishes and related fishes ''. Journal of Comparative Physiology. 89 : 59. doi : 10.1007 / BF00696163. Jump up ^ Gudger, E.W. ( 1919 ). `` On the Use of the Sucking - Fish for Catching Fish and Turtles : Studies in Echeneis or Remora, II., Part 1. ''. The American Naturalist. 53 ( 627 ) : 289 -- 311. JSTOR 2455925. doi : 10.1086 / 279716. Jump up ^ Gudger, E.W. ( 1919 ). `` On the Use of the Sucking - Fish for Catching Fish and Turtles : Studies in Echeneis or Remora, II., Part 2 ''. The American Naturalist. 53 ( 628 ) : 446 -- 467. JSTOR 2456185. doi : 10.1086 / 279724. Jump up ^ MacGillivray, John ( 1852 ). Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, Commanded By the Late Captain Owen Stanley, R.N., F.R.S. Etc. During the Years 1846 -- 1850. 2. London : Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. ( Dr. Gudger 's accounts are more authoritative, but this source is noted as an early account that Gudger appears to have missed. ) Jump up ^ Wiener, Leo ( 1921 ). `` Once more the sucking - fish ''. The American Naturalist. 55 ( 637 ) : 165 -- 174. JSTOR 2456418. doi : 10.1086 / 279802. Jump up ^ Pliny the Elder. `` Book 32, Chapter 1 ''. Natural History. ( cited in Gudger, E.W. ( 1930 ). `` Some old time figures of the shipholder, Echeneis or Remora, holding the ship ''. Isis. 13 ( 2 ) : 340 -- 352. JSTOR 224651. doi : 10.1086 / 346461. ) External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Echeneidae. Photos tagged with `` remora '' at Flickr National Aquarium Article About Remoras Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Remora&oldid=808430472 '' Categories : Echeneidae Scavengers Hidden categories : Articles with ' species ' microformats All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from March 2017 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikispecies Afrikaans Català Cebuano Čeština Deutsch ދިވެހިބަސް Español Euskara فارسی Français Gaeilge Galego 한국어 Հայերեն Ido Italiano עברית ქართული Қазақша Latina Lietuvių Magyar Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Русский Simple English Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska தமிழ் ไทย Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt Winaray 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 2 November 2017, at 20 : 40. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. 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Question: what are the little fish that attach themselves to sharks
Answer: Remora