Common remora
{{Short description|Species of fish}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Remora remora.jpg
| image_caption =
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| taxon = Remora remora
| authority = (Linnaeus, 1758)
| synonyms = {{Specieslist
|Echeneis remora|Linnaeus, 1758
|Echeneis squalipeta|Daldorff, 1793
|Echeneis parva|Gronow, 1854
|Echeneis remoroides|Bleeker, 1855
|Echeneis remeligo|Duméril, 1858
|Echeneis bourboniensis|Duméril, 1858
|Echeneis postica|Poey, 1860
|Echeneis remeligo|Guichenot, 1863
|Echeneis borboniensis|Guichenot, 1863
|Echeneis nubifera|Tanaka, 1915
}}
}}
The common remora (Remora remora) is a pelagic marine fish{{Cite web
|first=Mark |last=Leao |editor=Kimberly Schulz |title=Remora remora (on-line) |url=http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Remora_remora.html |work=Animal Diversity Web |access-date=2009-06-02 |year=2002}} belonging to the family Echeneidae. The dorsal fin, which has 22 to 26 soft rays, acts as a suction cup, creating a vacuumFishes of the World, 3rd edition. Joseph S. Nelson. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons, Inc, 1994. p. 351 to allow the fish to attach to larger marine animals, such as whales, dolphins, sharks, and sea turtles.{{Cite journal|doi=10.1590/S1679-62252006000100014| title=Turtle riders: Remoras on marine turtles in Southwest Atlantic| journal=Neotropical Ichthyology| volume=4| pages=123–126| year=2006| last1=Sazima | first1=I. | last2=Grossman | first2=A. | doi-access=free}}
Physical characteristics
The common remora has a suckerlike dorsal fin and an anal fin. Its body can be brown, black or grey in color.Smith's Sea Fishes, 6th edition. Edited by Margaret M. Smith and Phillip C. Heemstra. New York, NY: Springer-Verlag, 1986. p. 662 It can reach {{convert|86.4|cm|in|abbr=on}} in total length, though most do not exceed {{convert|40|cm|in|abbr=on}}.{{FishBase |genus= Remora|species= remora| month = April | year = 2013}} The maximum known weight of this species is {{convert|1.1|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.
Biology and behavior
R. remora and its host seem to partake in a symbiotic relationship; the common remora does not seem to have a negative overall effect on its host. The host provides the remora with fast-moving water for respiration, a steady flow of food, transportation, and protection.{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1111/j.1748-7692.1999.tb00849.x| title = Sharksucker (Echeneis naucrates) on a Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops tTruncatus) and a Review of Other Cetacean-Remora Associations| journal = Marine Mammal Science| volume = 15| issue = 3| pages = 859| year = 1999| last1 = Fertl | first1 = D.| last2 = Landry | first2 = A. M.| bibcode = 1999MMamS..15..859F}} The remora benefits the host by feeding in part on some of its parasites, but increases its hydrodynamic drag. The common remora's attachment to one host can last for up to three months.{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1590/S1679-62252006000400009| title = Fishes associated with spinner dolphins at Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, tropical Western Atlantic: An update and overview| journal = Neotropical Ichthyology| volume = 4| issue = 4| pages = 451| year = 2006| last1 = Sazima | first1 = I. | last2 = Sazima | first2 = C. | last3 = Silva-Jr | first3 = J. M. D. | doi-access = free}} During this time, the remora can move its attachment site if it feels threatened.{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1017/S1755267206002016| title = Whalesuckers on spinner dolphins: An underwater view| journal = Marine Biodiversity Records| volume = 1| year = 2009| last1 = Silva-Jr | first1 = J. M. | last2 = Sazima | first2 = I. }} The common remora cannot survive in still water; it needs water flow over its gills to breathe.
Habitat
Reproduction
A mating couple may attach to the same host, and have host fidelity.{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1590/S1676-06032003000200012| title = Whalesuckers and a spinner dolphin bonded for weeks: Does host fidelity pay off?| journal = Biota Neotropica| volume = 3| issue = 2| pages = 1| year = 2003| last1 = Silva-Jr | first1 = J. M. | last2 = Sazima | first2 = I. | doi-access = free}} It is not clear when during the year the common remora spawns, and little is known about the fish's reproductive behavior.
Food and diet
Significance to humans
No known negative impacts for humans are known. Remoras are occasionally caught as fishing bycatch and put in aquaria.Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, 2nd edition. Volume 5, Fishes 11, edited by Michael Hutchins, Dennis A. Thoney, Paul V. Loiselle, and Neil Schlager. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 2003. p. 216 Remoras have been used in fishing – one method involves tying fishing line to the remora, then waiting for it to cling to a larger fish.Fishes, Ascidians, etc. Vol. 7. Edited by Sir S.F. Harmer and Sir A.E. Shipley. London: McMillan and Co., Limited. 1932. p. 691
Other common names for this familiar fish include suck fish, stout sucking fish, common sucker, shark-sucker, brown sucker, and shark pilot.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{SealifePhotos|126853}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q749460}}
Category:Fish of the Atlantic Ocean