282 UNDERWATER GUIDE TO MARINE LIFE 



Fig. 159. Shark remora. 



Remoras: Suborder Discocephali {"disc head") 



These remarkable, elongate fishes are easily recognized. The top of the head 

 bears a laminated disc by which means these fishes are able to attach strongly 

 to sharks, rays, large fishes such as spearfishes and barracudas, sea turtles, or 

 other large animals for the purpose of securing a ride. They are not parasitic, 

 but just hitchhikers which share in the scraps left by large predators. They are 

 swift swimmers in their own right (as they have to be able to pick up their 

 rides) but probably cannot travel long distances by themselves. They are rarely 

 seen unattached. The strength of this sucker is remarkable. In order to capture 

 turtles, West Indian natives pay remoras out on a line and allow them to attach 

 to the turtles (Beebe and Tee-Van, 1933). Most of the species are cosmopolitan 

 in warm seas and all are carnivorous. 



REMORAS: Family Echeneidae 



SHARK REMORA (sucKFiSH, pegador) : Echeneis naucrates 



Size: Averages 18 inches. Up to 3 feet. 



Weight: Up to 2 pounds or more. 



Distribution: Cosmopolitan in warm seas. 



Identification: The color is gray with a wide, longitudinal black band. 



Hahits: This is the largest of the remoras. It is most often seen attached to 

 large sharks or other large fishes. Other smaller species attach to smaller fishes 

 for free transport. 



Trachinoids: Suborder Trachninoidei 



This group contains a large assemblage of fishes which defy exact definition. 

 Just as the species of the order Mesichthys are transitional from primitive bony 

 fishes to the spiny-rayed fishes, the trachinoids are transitional from spiny-rayed 

 fishes, which have ventral fins placed in the thoracic (chest) position under the 

 pectoral fins, to the fishes with the ventral fins placed in the jugular (throat) 

 position. None of the families have many species. 



BLANQUILLOS: Family Malacanthidae 



These are mostly tropical fishes of world-wide distribution. A few are found 

 in temperate zones. They are elongate and compressed with long, low dorsal 

 and anal fins. The colors are silvery or whitish with overtones of yellow and 

 green. 



SANDFiSH (wHiTEY, BLANQuiLLo) : Molaconthus fluiuieri 

 Size: Averages about 1 foot. Up to 2 feet. 



