Family | Scientific Name | Author | Year | Common Name |
Echeneidae | Remora remora | (Linnaeus) | 1758 | Remora |
All Remora — Body not elongate, depth contained 5-8 times in standard length. Pectoral fins rounded. Color nearly uniform, without bands. Anal-fin soft rays 18-28. Caudal fin forked in young becoming emarginate or truncate in adults.
Remora remora
Unique Characters: Uniformly blackish colored. Usually 16-20 disc laminae. Pectoral fin flexible. Total gill rakers 28-37.
Similar Species:
Whalesucker Remora australis
Spearfish Remora Remora brachyptera
Marlinsucker
Remora osteochir
Whalesucker Remora australis. Dark brown, darkish below. Narrow white border on dorsal and anal fins. Disc is very large, about half the length of the fish, with 24-28 laminae. Total gill rakers 17-20. . Hosts usually are cetaceans.
Spearfish Remora Remora brachyptera. Body brownish to reddish brown. Disc laminae 15-18. Pectoral-fin rays 23-27; outer two-thirds of pectoral-fin rays flexible. Total gill rakers 11-17. Preferred hosts, billfishes. Dorsal-fin soft rays 27-34. Disc length 28-40% standard length.
Marlinsucker Remora osteochir. Disc laminae 15-19. Pectoral-fin rays 20-24; pectoral-fin rays stiff to their tips in specimens longer than 150 mm standard length. Total gill rakers 11-17. Preferred hosts, billfishes. Dorsal-fin soft rays 21-27. Disc length 37-49% standard length.
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