remora

remora

The adaptations that allow an animal to expend the least energy in its displacements are of fundamental importance in the process of evolution. This is the case of the reefs, which, fixed by means of suckers to the skin of fish or cetaceans of great size, travel from one region to another of the oceans.

Remora (Remora remora) is the name given to several species of fish of the genus Echeneis, from the equeneid family, endowed with skeletal bones. They are spread through temperate and tropical seas around the world. It is dark in color and has an elongated body between thirty and ninety centimeters long. Its main characteristic is the organ located in the dorsal region of the body, near the brain zone, which produces, by suction, the effect similar to that of a suction cup.

Thus, they adhere to the skin or the hull of sharks, tunas, swordfish, cetaceans, sea turtles and some vessels, by which they are transported without any effort of their own and protected from predators. This feature represents the maximum efficiency in the energy saving mechanism.
The fixation organ, modifying the dorsal fin, is oval and composed of a series of small transverse blades, which produce small grid-shaped surface cuts. In the periphery of this organ there is a fleshy ridge. The blades are driven voluntarily by the animal, in both directions, with which the retrench can be fixed or released from the organism that carries it. The process does not cause damage to the host's skin and leaves only a few signs in it. In addition to being transported, the remora shares the host's food, taking advantage of the remains of what it consumes. Eventually, it feeds on parasites of the skin of the fish or cetacean that serves as transport, exerting on it a beneficial action.