The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-03-16
EXPERT FlNNY ANGLERS.
Two HundredPound Turtles Caught with
the Aid of Eishteen-Inch RemOras.

Northumberland Turtles Caught with
the Aid of Eishteen-Inch Remoras.
The remora is fish that spends its
life in fishing for its fellows. 1t uses
no bait. no line. no hook, but its curl
Gus tackle is very effective. Its dOrsal
fin. instead of being placed as in other
fish at one-third of the distance from
head to tail. is moved forward upon the
very forehead. The fin is, moreover.
fattened out and furnished with disk
like rim, by means of which the remora
attaches itself firmly to any object
with which it comes in contact. It can
cling, too, despite any force that can be
brought to bear. The remora may even
be killed before his grip is weakened.
II is only another instance Of the
providence of Dame Nature that these
fellows have their strange appliance,
for they are SO constructed as to he
able to swim only for short distances,
though they move very swiftly for
few rods. With their vacuum attach
ment they can dart upon an unsuspect-
ing shark, swordfish or turtle. and in
twinkling become inseparable trav-
cling companions. They do not appear
to injure the larger fish in any way,
but seem to nevertheless be source of
great annoyance, for if they stick to
one individual long enough it will be-
come sickly and poor. The remoras
leave their protector and vehicle only
for few seconds at a time, while they
dart away to seize a bit of food left
over from the sharks or the swordfsh's
meal. Like fash the morsel is swal-
lowed and the parasite resumes his
deadhead journey. Frequently sharks
have been captured with their bodies
all SCARED where they had rubbed
against coral reefs. oyster banks and
rocks in wild efforts to scrape off the
ever-present remoras.
The West Indian turtle fishermen
long ago learned how to make use of
this strange fish. Having captured
good, strong, healthy specimen, the
fisherman fastens him to a long braid
ed manila line by d loop around the
body just above the tail Then he rows
out to the turtle grounds, and. having
located a victim prowling along on or
near the bottom, pitches the remora
overheard. Quicker than thought the
little fish instinctively makes for the
nearest moving object. and, dashing
its head against the turtles back or
under shell, becomes a fixture. The
fisherman then hauls in his line, bring
ing the uniucky prey to the surface
and lifting him into the boat The
remora, as rule. at once drops off
when this is done. In this way turtles
that are too shy to come to the surface
or within spearing distance are readily
caught, and, more than that, are unin-
jured, which makes them more valua-
bic for market purposes. Now and then
the remora viii make fast to a big
fish, and give his owner lively tus-
sic. The line may break or the angler
let go, but the little sucker fish never
loosens his hold under water. Often
remoras attach themselves to moving
vessels, and are fou nd clinging to the
bottom when the ship comes into port.
There are several species. One kind
prefers sharks and is always found at
tached to these monsters. while an
other vainly clings to swordfiSh, and =
third sticks to turtles.
There are three species native to the
Atlantic coast, and another is an occa-
sional visitor. They are all lovers of
warm water, and are seldom seen
north of Virginia. Nearly every sea
on the globe in temperate or tropical
climes contains some members of this
widespread family. Some of them
grow to the length of four or FIVE feet,
and the power of these giants may be
estimated by comparing their size with
the eighteen-inch specimens which can
hold and catch two hundred pound
turtie.-N. Y. Sun.