Common remora facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Common remora |
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The common remora (Remora remora) is a fascinating ocean fish. It lives in the open ocean, far from the coast. This fish is part of the Echeneidae family. It has a special fin on its back that works like a suction cup. This fin helps the remora stick to bigger sea animals. It can attach to whales, dolphins, sharks, and sea turtles.
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What Does a Remora Look Like?
The common remora has a unique fin on its back. This fin is shaped like a sucker. It also has another fin underneath its body. Its body can be brown, black, or grey. This fish can grow up to 86.4 cm (34.0 in) long. However, most remoras are about 40 cm (16 in) long. The heaviest common remora ever found weighed about 1.1 kg (2.4 lb).
How Do Remoras Live?
Remoras and their hosts often share a special connection. This is called a symbiotic relationship. The remora does not seem to harm its host. The host helps the remora in many ways. It provides fast-moving water for the remora to breathe. It also gives the remora a steady supply of food. The host offers transportation and protection too.
The remora helps its host by eating some of its parasites. But, sticking to the host can make the host a bit slower. A common remora can stay attached to one host for up to three months. If it feels unsafe, it can move to a different spot on the host. Remoras need water to flow over their gills to breathe. They cannot survive in still water.
Where Do Remoras Live?
You can usually find the common remora in warm ocean waters. They have been seen in the western Mediterranean Sea. They also live in the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea.
How Do Remoras Reproduce?
Sometimes, a male and female remora will attach to the same host. They might even stay with that host for a long time. Scientists are not sure when common remoras lay their eggs. Not much is known about how these fish reproduce.
What Do Remoras Eat?
Remoras eat food scraps left by their host. They also eat tiny ocean creatures called plankton. Sometimes, they eat small parasites called copepods that live on their host.
Remoras and Humans
Remoras do not cause any known problems for humans. Sometimes, they are accidentally caught by fishing boats. They are also sometimes kept in aquariums. People have even used remoras for fishing! One old method involved tying a fishing line to a remora. Then, they would wait for the remora to stick to a bigger fish.
Other common names for this fish include suck fish, stout sucking fish, common sucker, shark-sucker, brown sucker, and shark pilot.
