Echeneis naucrates
Sharksucker
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Echeneidae (Remoras)
Echeneis
Echeneis naucrates (Sharksucker)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
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Characters
Very elongate body; acutely pointed pectoral fin; narrow-based pelvic fin; mouth short, extending about half the distance from tip of snout to anterior margin of eye; well-developed fleshy tab on lower lip; teeth in upper jaw in a broad band anteriorly and a narrow band posteriorly; teeth in lower jaw in a broad band and exposed when mouth is closed; vomer and palatine with broad bands of teeth; tongue with small granular teeth; gill rakers on first arch 1-3 on upper limb and 17-18 on lower limb; branchiostegal rays 8; head length 18%-20% SL; snout length 8%-9% SL; eye diameter 3%-5% SL; upper jaw length 6%-7% SL; pectoral fin length 12%-15% SL; disc length 27%-28% SL; pelvic fin length 11%-14% SL; body depth 8%-10% SL; pectoral fin rays 20-26; cephalic disc lamellae 21-28 (usually 23); second dorsal fin rays 32-41; anal fin rays 29-41; caudal fin with concave margin; vertebrae 30 (14 precaudal, 16 caudal)
Slate to dark brownish gray with dark brown stripe bordered by white stripes along flank from tip of snout to base of caudal fin; white stripes may be obscure in large specimens; median fins dark with light to white margins
Distribution
Western Atlantic from Nova Scotia and Bermuda to Uruguay, including the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, and the Greater and Lesser Antilles
Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Tropical to warm temperate seas, continental and insular shelves; pelagic
Attaches to outside surfaces of large pelagic vertebrates including sharks, ray-finned fishes, sea turtles, and occasionally humans and boats
Biology
Maximum known size 900 mm SL
Most abundant remora in warm waters (Ref. 4389). Occurs near as well as far from the coast (Ref. 5217). Often found free-swimming in shallow inshore areas and around coral reefs (Ref. 26938). Attaches temporarily to a variety of hosts including sharks, rays, large bony fishes or sea turtles, whales, dolphins and also to ships. May follow divers (Ref. 9710); reported to attach itself to a diver's leg (Ref. 57809). Feeds on small fishes, bits of its host's prey and host's parasites (Ref. 26938). Juveniles occasionally act as reef station-based cleaners, where they service parrotfishes (Ref. 40095). Sometimes used by natives to aid in fishing; a line is tied to the caudal peduncle of the remora and then is released; upon attaching to another fish, the remora and its host are hauled in by the fisher (Ref. 9682).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders; parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-08-23. Resilience: Medium (Assuming Fec < 10,000).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish; aquarium: commercial.
References
Bigelow and Schroeder 1953
Böhlke and Chaplin 1968
Randall 1968a
Randall 1996
Cressey and Lachner 1970
Hoese and Moore 1977
Hoese and Moore 1998
Lachner 1978
Lachner 1986
Heemstra 1986k
Robins and Ray 1986
Boschung 1992
Cervigón 1993a
Cervigón 1993b
Schaldach et al. 1997
Smith 1997
Castro-Aguirre et al. 1999
Smith-Vaniz et al. 1999
Collette 2001b
Collette 2002c
Collette 2002f
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
Fischer, W., M.-L. Bauchot and M. Schneider (eds.) (1987) Fiches FAO d'identification des espèces pour les besoins de la pêche. (Révision 1). Méditerranée et mer Noire. Zone de Pêche 37. FAO, Rome. 1529 p.
Myers, R.F. (1991) Micronesian reef fishes. Second Ed. Coral Graphics, Barrigada, Guam. 298 p.
Randall, J.E., G.R. Allen and R.C. Steene (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, Hawaii. 506 p.
Paxton, J.R., D.F. Hoese, G.R. Allen and J.E. Hanley (1989) Pisces. Petromyzontidae to Carangidae. Zoological Catalogue of Australia, Vol. 7. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 665 p.
Lieske, E. and R. Myers (1994) Collins Pocket Guide. Coral reef fishes. Indo-Pacific & Caribbean including the Red Sea. Haper Collins Publishers, 400 p.
Collette, B.B. (1999) Echeneidae. Remoras, sharksuckers, discfishes. p. 2652-2654. In K.E. Carpenter and V.H. Niem (eds.) FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific. Volume 4. Bony fishes part 2 (Mugilidae to Carangidae). FAO, Rome.
Smith, C.L. (1997) National Audubon Society field guide to tropical marine fishes of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 720 p.
Kulbicki, M., Y.-M. Bozec, P. Labrosse, Y. Letourneur, G. Mou-Tham and L. Wantiez (2005) Diet composition of carnivorous fishes from coral reef lagoons of New Caledonia. Aquat. Living Resour. 18:231-250.
Fricke, R., M. Kulbicki and L. Wantiez (2011) Checklist of the fishes of New Caledonia, and their distribution in the Southwest Pacific Ocean (Pisces). Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde A, Neue Serie 4:341-463.
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