Latin name

Echeneis naucrates

Other names

Sharksucker

Identification

They are slender fish with a flat sucking disc on the top of the head. They usually attach to sharks or other fish, including marlin, grouper, and rays, sometimes to the bottoms of boats or other objects. These hitchhikers move effortlessly with their hosts, feeding on parasitic copepods that live on the hosts' bodies and in their gill chambers. The sucking disc, developed from the first dorsal fin, consists of a series of ridges and gaps that create a vacuum between the remora and the surface to which it attaches. By sliding backward, the remora can intensify the suction or free itself by swimming forward. The sharksucker (Echeneis naucrates) is gray with a wide, white bordered black stripe along each side, tapering toward the tail. Remora is black or dark brown.

Distribution

The sharksucker (Echeneis naucrates) is common throughout the world in warm seas. Remora (Remora remora) is also found worldwide and prefers sharks as a host.

Habitat

Sharksucker (Echeneis naucrates) prefers sharks and rays as hosts, often entering shallow beaches and coastal areas, rarely attaching to swimmers or divers.

Size

The sharksucker (Echeneis naucrates), which averages 11⁄2 feet in length, can reach 38 inches and weigh up to 2 pounds, is the largest member of the family. Further, a cosmopolitan is the remora (Remora remora), which usually reaches 12 inches in length and can reach 34 inches.

Life history and Behavior

No information

Food and feeding habits

No information

Reproduction

No information