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Family Echeneidae - Remoras

Order:

Perciformes

Class:

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)

No. of Genera:

No. of Species:

Environment:

Fresh: No Brackish: No Marine: Yes

Aquarium:

none

First Fossil Record:

Ref.: Berg, L.S..1958

Remark:

Distribution: Atlantic, Indian and Pacific. Elongate body, with the head flattened and bearing a sucking disc having 10-28 transverse movable lamina (disc said to have evolved from a spinous dorsal fin). Mandible jutted. Scales small and cycloid. Spines absent in dorsal and anal fins. About 18-40 soft rays each in dorsal and anal fins. No swim bladder. Branchiostegal rays 8-11. With the sucking disc, the remora hitches to larger animals such as sharks, bony fishes, turtles or mammals. Some species reportedly show considerable host specificity. They act as cleaners on their hosts and also feed on 'leftovers'. Assumed to be pelagic spawners (RF). About 1 m maximum length (reported for Echeines naucrates); the smallest species measuring 17 cm.

Etymology:

Greek, echein = to hold + Greek, nays = ship; 1594. From it suppossed power for stopping ships ( Ref. 45335).

Division:

Marine

Reproductive guild:

nonguarders

Main Ref.:

Nelson, J.S..1984

Coordinator:

Show species | Nominal species list for Echeneidae | Identification keys | CAS specimen photos | References

Update \| Add new Family	Ref.:				Glossary
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