Remora brachyptera
Spearfish Remora
Collection Details
Specimens
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Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Echeneidae (Remoras)
Remora
Remora brachyptera (Spearfish Remora)
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 small cephalic disc. Mouth is relatively large and extends about to anterior margin of eye. Teeth in upper jaw are villiform and arranged in a broad band, with some near symphysis enlarged. Lower jaw has villiform teeth arranged in a band, with outermost teeth slightly enlarged. Vomer has a narrow band of teeth, and tongue has a tooth patch. Gill rakers on first arch number 11 to 17. Branchiostegal rays number 9. Measurements are expressed as percent of SL: head length 24%–25%, snout length 10%–11%, eye diameter 3%– 4%, upper jaw length 9%–11%, pectoral fin length 14%–16%, disc length 31%–35%, pelvic fin length 12%–13%, body depth 13%–14%. Pectoral fin has a rounded margin and 23 to 27 rays, with distal two-thirds of rays flexible in specimens greater than 150 mm SL. Cephalic disc has 15 to 18 lamellae. Second dorsal fin has 27 to 34 rays. Anal fin has 22 to 28 rays. Caudal fin has a concave margin. Spinules on lamellae of cephalic disc are pointed and, in specimens longer than 150 mm SL, are arranged in two or three irregular rows per lamella.
Color is dark brown to reddish brown, with margins of dorsal and anal fins lighter.
Distribution
In the western Atlantic it occurs from Nova Scotia to Brazil, including the northern and southern Gulf of Mexico.
Habitat Associations
Tropical to warm temperate seas, associated with billfishes (Xiphiidae), sharks, and mollids (Masturus lanceolatus), occasionally free swimming.
Biology
Food consists of parasitic copepods.
Maximum known size is 260 mm SL.
Found on the body and inside gill chamber of billfishes and swordfishes, rarely on any other fishes (Ref. 2850); also in the gill cavities and mouths of sharks (Ref. 5951).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders; parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2009-02-04. Resilience: Medium (Assuming Fec < 10,000).
References
Cressey and Lachner 1970
Hoese and Moore 1977
Lachner 1986
Heemstra 1986k
Robins and Ray 1986
Boschung 1992
Schaldach et al. 1997
Collette 2002c,f
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.
Heemstra, P.C. (1986) Echeneidae. p. 662-664. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
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.
Jiménez Prado, P. and P. Béarez (2004) Peces Marinos del Ecuador continental. Tomo 2: Guía de Especies / Marine fishes of continental Ecuador. Volume 2: Species Guide. SIMBIOE/NAZCA/IFEA.
Mundy, B.C. (2005) Checklist of the fishes of the Hawaiian Archipelago. Bishop Mus. Bull. Zool. (6):1-704.
Golani, D. and R. Fricke (2018) Checklist of the Red Sea fishes with delineation of the Gulf of Suez, Gulf of Aqaba, endemism and Lessepsian migrants. Zootaxa 4509(1):1-215.
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