356 A DESCRIPTION OP 
its excessive voracity, for it picks up the smaller pieces of 
food which the shark lets drop. 
THE REMORA, OR SUCKING-FISH, 
(Echeneis remora,) 
Resembles the herring ; its head is thick, naked, de- 
pressed, and marked on the upper side with transverse 
rough lines. The fins are seven in number ; the under 
jaw is longer than the upper, and both furnished with 
teeth. This fish is provided by nature with a strong ad- 
hesive power, and, by means of the grooved lines on its 
head, it can attach itself to any animal or body whatever. 
A small fish with seven acting fins, armed like a galley 
with oars, we might suppose to have a great power of 
motion in the water, but for some reason unknown to us, 
Providence has contrived for him an easier way of tra- 
velling, by enabling him to fix himself to the hull of a 
ship, and even to the body of a larger animal than him- 
self, as the whale, the shark, and others. The ancients 
absurdly believed that, small as he is, this fish had the 
power of arresting the progress of a ship in its fastest 
sailing, by adhering to the bottom. 
The Sucking-fish beneath, with secret chains, 
Clung to the keel, the swiftest ship detains. 
The seamen run confused, no labour spared, 
Let fly the sheets, and hoist the topmost yard. 
The master bids them give her all the sails, 
To court the winds, and catch the coming gales. 
