Spearfish remora facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Spearfish remora |
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| Drawing by Dr Tony Ayling | |
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The spearfish remora (Remora brachyptera) is a special type of fish. It lives in warm, tropical, and subtropical oceans all around the world. Remoras are known for a cool trick: they have a strong sucker on their head! They use this sucker to stick onto other, much bigger fish. The spearfish remora mostly attaches to billfishes like swordfishes, and sometimes even to sharks.
What Does It Look Like?
This fish can grow up to 50 cm (20 in) long. However, most of them are about 25 cm (10 in) long. It has a long, round body. When alive, it often looks whitish or light blue. After it dies, its color changes to tan or dark brown.
Its head is a bit flat. On top of its head, it has a special oval-shaped disc, or "sucker." This sucker has 14 to 17 ridges that help it hold onto its host fish very tightly.
The fins on its back (dorsal fin) and belly (anal fin) are long. They are placed far back on its body. The dorsal fin has between 27 and 34 soft rays. The fins on its sides (pectoral fins) have 23 to 27 rays. The anal fin has 25 to 34 rays. The tail fin (caudal fin) has a straight edge. The sucker on its head does not reach past its pectoral fins. The outer part of its pectoral fins can bend easily.
How Does It Live?
The spearfish remora uses its special sucker to attach itself to a host fish. Young remoras often stick inside the host's gill areas. Some of the host fish it likes include the sailfish, white marlin, black marlin, striped marlin, and swordfish. These host fish swim much faster than the remora. Scientists are not sure how the remora manages to attach to such fast-swimming fish in the first place!
The remora can move around on the host fish's body. It can also swim by itself for short distances. The spearfish remora eats tiny parasites called copepods that it removes from its host's body. However, these parasites do not make up as much of its diet as they do for the common remora (Remora remora). Sometimes, more than one remora can attach to a single host. But it is still a mystery how these remoras find each other to breed.
