Bony fish · Perciformes · Echeneidae
Live Sharksucker
Echeneis naucrates
The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary
The live sharksucker — known in Spanish as rémora rayada, pega, pegatimón, rémora or guaicán — is the species Echeneis naucrates, a marine fish of the remora family, Echeneidae, distributed worldwide through all the subtropical waters of the planet.
Weight
up to 2.3 kg
Size
up to 1.1 m
Diet
Carnivore
Feeds mainly on other animals.
Sighting difficulty
Easy
Fun facts
- The juveniles sometimes act as cleaners from fixed stations on the reef, servicing parrotfish.
- In several traditional fisheries a line is tied to a remora's tail stalk and the fish released: when it attaches itself to another fish, both are hauled in.
- It attaches itself to boats and divers too; there are records of individuals stuck to a diver's leg.
Life cycle & biology
- Skeleton type
- Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bony fish)
- Habitat & environment
- Coastal waters and tropical and subtropical reefs of every ocean, between 1 and 85 m, often attached to sharks, rays, turtles and large fish
Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echeneis_naucrates
Where to find it
See its range on the interactive mapWhere to watch it
Parques y spots de buceo donde se ha documentado esta especie — se muestran 20 de 440 documentados.
Related species
Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Live Sharksucker — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.
Horn Shark
Heterodontus francisci
Least ConcernGreen Moray
Gymnothorax funebris
Tropical Two-wing Flyingfish
Exocoetus volitans
Blackbar Soldierfish
Myripristis jacobus
Red Lionfish
Pterois volitans
Greater Amberjack
Seriola dumerili
Keep exploring
Based on what we already know about live sharksucker.
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