Common in warmer parts of all oceans.Western Mediterranean and Atlantic from the North Sea southwards (Unesco 1989).

Biogeographic Regions: indian ocean (Native ); atlantic ocean (Native ); pacific ocean (Native )

Canada

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

See Map (including site records) of Distribution in the Tropical Eastern Pacific

 
Global Endemism: All species, TEP non-endemic, Circumtropical ( Indian + Pacific + Atlantic Oceans), "Transpacific" (East + Central &/or West Pacific), East Pacific + Atlantic (East +/or West), Transisthmian (East Pacific + Atlantic of Central America), East Pacific + all Atlantic (East+West)

Regional Endemism: All species, Eastern Pacific non-endemic, Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) non-endemic, Continent + Island (s), Continent, Island (s)

Residency: Resident

Climate Zone: North Temperate (Californian Province &/or Northern Gulf of California), Northern Subtropical (Cortez Province + Sinaloan Gap), Northern Tropical (Mexican Province to Nicaragua + Revillagigedos), Equatorial (Costa Rica to Ecuador + Galapagos, Clipperton, Cocos, Malpelo), South Temperate (Peruvian Province )

Remora remora is a short, thick-set sucking fish (Marshall 1965).The Remora has 28-37 long slender gillrakers, 21-27 dorsal fin rays, 20-24 anal fin rays, and 25-32 pectoral fin ray (Unesco 1989). The dorsal and anal fins lack spines (Nelson 1984). The Remora has no swim bladder and uses a sucking disc on the top of its head to obtain rides from other animals such as large sharks, and sea turtles. The sucking disk, developed from a transformed spinous dorsal fin, contains 16-20 transverse movable lamina which create a partial vaccuum permitting the Remora to obtain rides on larger animals (Nelson 1984). The head is rather long and flattened, 26-29% of the standard length, with the disc being 34-42% of the standard length. The lower jaw projects past the upper jaw and the teeth, located in jaws and vomer in a villiform patch, are sharply pointed and recurved slightly inward. The scales are small and cycloid (Unesco 1989, Nelson 1984), and the color, nearly uniform above and below, is blackish or brownish (Marshall 1965). The Remora grows to about 18 inches (Marshall 1965).

The Remora is a pelagic marine fish that is usually found in the warmer parts of most oceans clinging on to large sharks, sea turtles, bony fishes and other marine mammals (Marshall 1965).

Habitat Type: Marine

Non-Migrant: No. All populations of this species make significant seasonal migrations.

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.

The Remora clings to a host, such as large sharks, sea turtles, bony fishes, rays, and marine mammals.The Remora has long been thought to detach itself from its host and dart around feeding on its scraps (Herald 1962). It was later felt that ectoparasites on the host's body or gill chambers formed an important part of their diet. Recently it was shown that both of these are utilized as food sources and that planktonic organisms and fish may also be part of the Remora's diet (Bohlke and Chaplin 1993).

Near nothing is known about the Remora's breeding habits or larval development.Specimens as small as an inch have been noted to resemble adults in all aspects except size, but nothing is known about how or where they spawn (McClane 1998).

US Federal List: no special status

CITES: no special status

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: NNR - Unranked

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: NNR - Unranked

Rounded Global Status Rank: GNR - Not Yet Ranked

No known negative impacts

The remora is of unique value to humans. The fish itself is not generally eaten, but is instead used as a means of catching large fish and sea turtles. Fishermen in countries around the world use them by attaching a line to their tails and then releasing them. The remora will then swim off and attach itself to a large fish or turtle, which can then be pulled in by a careful fisherman. The remora is not held in high esteem as a food fish, although the Australian aborigines are said to eat them after using them on fishing trips. On the other hand, aborigines from the West Indies never ate their "hunting fish" and instead sang songs of praise and reverence to them.