|Size||12-35 inch (30-90 cm)|
|Habitat||Worldwide, most warm oceans|
|Characteristics||Uses its headplate to suck onto other creatures|
Remoras suck onto other marine creatures like sharks, manta rays and turtles. They use them like taxis to travel through the water, and eat food that falls out of and past their mouths. In return, they rid their taxis of parasites (which are quite tasty too).
Wait, you’re not a shark?
Remoras sometimes accidentally attach themselves to boats and ride along with them for a while. But as this strange, big “animal” doesn’t have any food on offer, the remora lets go in disappointment. They also sometimes attach to divers by mistake. Hot tip: don’t move! Otherwise, you’ll end up with a lovely bruise to remember it by.
Remoras have suction plates to hold on to things. This is located on their flat heads and looks like the bottom of a walking boot.
It’s all in a name
People have known about remoras since ancient times. They were believed to stop ships from sailing. That’s why it’s called the remora, which means “delay” in Latin.
Trick 17: fishing with fish
Take a remora and attach a rope or cord to its tail. If you see a turtle, put your remora in the water. It will swim over to the turtle and suction on. Now you can just pull in the rope and pull the turtle on board. This method was actually used in eastern Africa (near Zanzibar and Mozambique) and in northern Australia.
- Watch now on animalfunfacts.net:
- Video: Symbiotic Animal Relationships - the relationship between the remora and other marine life