Remora australis
Whalesucker
Collection Details
Specimens
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Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Echeneidae (Remoras)
Remora
Remora australis (Whalesucker)
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
Relatively stout and depressed anteriorly, with a rounded pectoral fin, a broad-based pelvic fin, and a relatively large cephalic disc. Mouth is short and extends about two-thirds of the distance from tip of snout to anterior margin of eye. Teeth in upper jaw are in a broad band anteriorly and a narrow band posteriorly, with outer teeth enlarged. Lower jaw has villiform teeth arranged in a band, with outermost teeth slightly enlarged. Vomer has a narrow band of teeth, and tongue lacks teeth. Gill rakers on first arch number 17 to 20. Branchiostegal rays number 9. Measurements are expressed as percent of SL: head length about 25%, snout length about 13%, eye diameter about 2%, upper jaw length about 10%, pectoral fin length about 13%, disc length about 48%, pelvic fin length about 13%, body depth about 12%. Pectoral fin has a rounded margin and 22 to 24 rays. Cephalic disc has 24 to 28 lamellae. Second dorsal fin has 23 to 26 rays. Anal fin has 24 to 26 rays. Caudal fin has a concave margin. Spinules on lamellae of cephalic disc are arranged in two rows, with those of anterior row compressed and bladelike and those of posterior row conical. Vertebrae number 27: 12 pre-caudal and 15 caudal.
Color is dark brown or grayish brown and slightly darker ventrally, with light border along dorsal and anal fins.
Distribution
northern Gulf of Mexico to Brazil
Habitat Associations
Tropical to warm temperate seas, associated with cetaceans
Biology
Maximum known size is 403 mm SL
Oceanic, mostly in warm seas. Attaches itself only to whales and porpoises (Ref. 7251). One adult couple was recorded attached to the same individual spinner dolphin for a period of about 3 months (Ref. 50801). A common associate of spinner dolphins at Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, southeast Atlantic, where it occurs year-round. Recorded feeding on spinner dolphins’ feces and vomits (Ref. 48727).
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).
References
Hoese and Moore 1977
Hoese and Moore 1998
Lachner 1986
Heemstra 1986k
Robins and Ray 1986
Boschung 1992
Collette 2002c
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann (1983) A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. Boston (MA, USA): Houghton Mifflin Company. xii+336 p.
Hart, J.L. (1973) Pacific fishes of Canada. Bull. Fish. Res. Board Can. 180:740 p.
Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray (1986) A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 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.
Collette, B., W.F. Smith-Vaniz, J. Herrera, P. Fernandes and H. Heessen (2015) Remora australis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T198650A45095872.
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