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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. [9] Some remoras associate with specific host species.
The spearfish remora attaches itself with its disc to a host fish, with juveniles often attaching in the gill chambers. [1] Host fish include the sailfish, the white marlin, the black marlin, the striped marlin and the swordfish; all these fish swim faster than does the remora, and it is not clear how the remora attaches to the host in the first place. [5]
It then attaches itself to the remaining stub of tongue and the parasite itself effectively serves as the fish's new "tongue". [ 2 ] Many species of Cymothoa have been identified, [ 3 ] and only cymothoid isopods are known to consume and replace the host's organs.
When attached to a host, the remora eats parasitic crustaceans, food scraps from its host's feeding activity, and even some small food captured by filtering water through its villiform teeth. [ 11 ] Without a host, the fish stays close to the shore and can aggregate with other individuals; its diet is then composed of free-living crustaceans ...
The common remora (Remora remora) is a pelagic marine fish [3] belonging to the family Echeneidae.The dorsal fin, which has 22 to 26 soft rays, acts as a suction cup, creating a vacuum [4] to allow the fish to attach to larger marine animals, such as whales, dolphins, sharks, and sea turtles.
Echeneis neucratoides is sometimes free-swimming, but at other times attaches itself with its sucker to a host animal such as a shark, other large fish or turtle. [6] Remoras often feed on scraps of food discarded by their hosts, and may also consume the parasitic copepods on their skin.
As juveniles, they are not specific in their requirements, and attach themselves temporarily to the skin of any fish. They produce anticoagulants and suck the fish's blood. They detach from their first host and later find another host. When they have found the correct species of fish for their adult development, they attach more permanently.
The whalesucker (Remora australis) is a species of remora in the family Echeneidae, so named because it attaches itself exclusively to cetaceans, in a mutualistic interaction. It is found worldwide in tropical and warm waters; in the Gulf of Mexico and western Atlantic Ocean , it occurs from Texas to Brazil , and in the eastern Pacific Ocean ...