Remora Temporal range:
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Common remora, Remora remora | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Carangiformes |
Family: | Echeneidae Rafinesque, 1810[2] |
Genera[3] | |
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Synonyms | |
Echeneididae |
Remoras, sometimes called suckerfish or sharksuckers, are fish in the family Echeneidae of ray-finned fish in the order Carangiformes.[4] They are small fish that live on and around sharks. They eat stray bits of food left by the shark and tiny shrimp-like parasites that live on the shark's skin. They have sucker-like disks on their heads with which they attach to the shark. Both the shark and the remora benefit from the pairing, but the remore benefits much more; this is commensalism. Remora are also known as sucker fish or shark sucker.