396 Shark, Swordfish, Offshore Remoras 



Shark Remora 

 Echeneis naucrates Linnaeus 



Color: Body color slate gray or brown-gray. Sides marked 

 by a broad dark brown or grayish stripe with white edge. 

 Distribution: Cosmopolitan in warm seas. In the western 

 Atlantic it is taken occasionally as far north as Cape Cod 

 and, rarely, north of Cape Cod. 

 Size: Reaches a length of over 3 feet. 



General Information: This species clings to ships or to 

 sharks by the sucker-like disc on its head. It feeds on frag- 

 ments of fish killed by the shark to which it is attached. 

 Economic Importance: None. 



Swordfish Remora 

 Remora brachyptera (Lowe) 



Color: Light reddish brown above, darker below. 

 Distribution: Cosmopolitan in warm seas. In the western 

 Atlantic it is found as far north as Maine. 

 Size: Reaches a length of about one foot. 

 General Information: This species is frequently found at- 

 tached to the shoulder of the swordfish, but it also has 

 been taken from the gill cavity of the ocean sunfish and 

 the mouths and gill cavities of larger sharks. 

 Economic Importance: None. 



Offshore Remora 

 Remora remora (Linnaeus) 



