FISHES OF CHESAPEAKE BAY 
329 
183. Echeneis naucrates Linnaeus. Pilot fish; Shark’s pilot; Shark sucker; Remora. 
Echcneis naucrates Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. X, 1758, p. 261; Indian Ocean. Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 2269, PI. 
CCCXXIX, fig. 796. 
Leptecheneis naucrates Uhler and Lugger, 1876, ed. I, p. 138; ed. II, p. 117. 
Echeneis naucratoides Uhler and Lugger, 1876, ed. I, p. 138; ed. II, p. 118. 
Head 5.25 to 5.45; depth about 8 to 10; D. 28 to 34; A. 30 to 32. Body elongate, more 
or less cylindrical; head depressed above; sucking disk large, with 20 or 21 laminae; snout broad, 
fiat, 1.95 to 2 in head; eye 5.05 to 5.15; interorbital 1.65 to 1.8; mouth broad, superior; lower 
jaw strongly projecting, angulate at tip; maxillary reaching anterior nostril, 2.65 to 2.8 in head; 
teeth in jaws in broad villiform bands, those in lower jaw mostly exposed; dorsal fin long, somewhat 
elevated anteriorly; caudal fin posteriorly nearly straight; anal fin similar to dorsal and opposite it; 
ventral fins rather long and narrow, the inner ray of each fin connected by membrane at base; this 
membrane on median line attached to abdomen by another membrane; pectoral fins moderate, 
pointed, the upper rays being longest, 1.1 in head. 
Color in alcohol dark brown on back; sides lighter brown; belly still lighter; sides with a dark, 
longitudinal band; dorsal fin black, anteriorly at least with a pale margin; caudal fin black, the tips 
of outer rays pale; anal fin dusky brown with a broad pale margin; ventrals dusky brown; pectorals 
black. 
Four specimens of this species, ranging in length from 390 to 485 millimeters (15J4 to 19J^ 
inches) are at hand. This is the only remora known from Chesapeake Bay. It is most readily 
recognized by the very slender body, the long sucking disk on top of the head, which has 20 or more 
pairs of transverse plates, and by the long, pointed, projecting lower lip. 
Fig. 198.— Echeneis naucrates 
This remora is reported to reach a length of nearly 3 feet. It is usually found attached to 
sharks and occasionally to turtles and other large aquatic animals, but it also swims independently, 
and sometimes it is taken with hook and line. The remoras are not parasitic on the animals to which 
they attach themselves by means of the large sucking disk over the head, for this is only their method 
of “stealing a ride.” E. naucrates apparently is rare in Chesapeake Bay, possibly because sharks, 
too, are rather uncommon. Only four specimens were seen during the present investigation, and 
these were all found in two pound nets on the same date. 
Habitat . — All warm seas; northward to Massachusetts Bay on the Atlantic coast of the United 
States. 
Chesapeake localities . — (a) Previous records: “Chesapeake Bay” and “southern parts of 
Chesapeake Bay” (Uhler and Lugger, 1876). ( b ) Specimens in collection: Taken on June 15, 
1921, all from two pound nets operated in Lynnhaven Roads, Va. 
Order JUGXJLARES 
Family LXXXII.-URANQSCOPID^. The stargazers 
Body elongate, conic, more or less compressed; widest and usually deepest at occiput; head 
large, broad, partly covered with bony plates; eyes small, superior, placed anteriorly; mouth ver- 
tical; teeth moderate, present on jaws, vomer, and palatines; premaxillary protractile; maxillary 
broad, without a supplemental bone; gill openings wide; gill membranes nearly separate, free from 
the isthmus; gills 3j^, a slit behind the last; pseudobranchias present; branchiostegals 6; scales, if 
present, small; spinous dorsal small or wanting, the soft dorsal long; caudal fin not forked; anal 
fin large; ventral fins jugular, close together, with I, 5 rays; pectoral fins large, broad, with oblique 
bases, the lower rays rapidly decreasing in length. 
