Remora

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Remora
Species:	Echeneis naucrates
Games:	Endless Ocean, Endless Ocean 2
Category:	Large Marine Life
Length:	2 feet 3 inches (80 centimetres)
Appearance:	A slender, grey fish with a sucker patch on its forehead.
Location: (EO)	Knives Reef Marige Atoll
Location: (EO2)	Zahhab Region
Time:	Day and night (EO) Daytime only (EO2)
Dangerous:
Forms:	Adult only

The Remora (Echeneis naucrates) is a midsized species of fish that appears in both Endless Ocean and Endless Ocean 2.

Is is best known for its habit of staying close to whatever fish it's cleaning, typically those much larger than itself, by way of a specialized sucker pad on its head.

In-Game

Marine Encyclopedia

Endless Ocean

Description

"These fish have long, narrow bodies and pectoral fins that taper at the ends. They are gray with large, dark lines running from the head to the tail, and can be seen year-round near Mo'ia Atoll.

They come in a variety of colors that range from gray to blue. However, their most recognizable feature is the large sucker on their back that takes the place of the first dorsal fin. This extremely powerful sucker will leave a mark on anything it attaches to, including other fish. In fact, remoras live almost their entire lives attached to other objects.

Remoras that attach to other creatures have what is called a commensal relationship with them. This means that one animal (in this case, the remora) benefits from the relationship, while the other is neither hurt nor helped by it. There have been specimens of remora found to have consumed parasitic worms that came from their hosts. However, it is not known whether this occurred as part of the relationship or simply by accident."

Endless Ocean 2

Description

"This fish possesses a distinctive sucker on its head which developed from one of its dorsal fins. It uses it to stick to larger fish, which allows it to move around without using much energy.

It feeds on parasites attached to the larger fish in return, so it can be described as a symbiotic relationship. It is sometimes found in the stomach of its host so its services may not always be so highly regarded."

Location

Endless Ocean

A pair of remoras swim directly beneath the whale shark that patrols near Mo'ia Atoll, which also passes by Comb Reef and the Entryway Slope.

Endless Ocean 2

Several of these are seen accompanying the oversized whale shark in northwest Zahhab Region.

Behavior

These comparatively small fish may be somewhat hard to spot and/or focus on next to the behemoths they clean. However, they do not move from the whale shark they are cleaning, so this makes it somewhat easier to keep track of them.

They will stay on the same path that the whale shark takes in both games and will never stray away. Even if offered food, they will remain neutral.

Gallery

Two remoras, with a pilotfish between them.

The remora as it appears in the first game.

A remora in the aquarium of the first game.

Notes

Real-Life Information

1/2

• Both the first and second games report that the sucker pad on the top of the remora's head takes the place of, and evolved from, its first dorsal fin, which is true. The pad isn't present on the very youngest remoras, because it develops as they grow; baby remoras have large, hooked teeth instead. It is unknown specifically why they have these teeth, but it is possible that remora larvae use their mouths to hitch rides with other animals before their sucker pad develops.
  • The fact that the remora's sucker disc is a highly-modified dorsal fin was only confirmed by the scientific community relatively recently, in 2012. The suspicion that this was the case, however, has been around since the early 1800s.
• The first game classifies the remora's relationship with its host fishes as "commensal", while the second terms it as broadly "symbiotic". It is more accurate to specify it as commensal, as the remora of consuming parasites from its host may or may not be purposeful, like Endless Ocean remarks. However, the remora's sucker pad can be irritating to the host animal, and creatures hosting remoras have exhibited behaviors that suggest as much; nonetheless, this is not enough to classify it as a parasite outright. In addition, some of these behaviors have been hypothesized to be intended to relocate the remora to a better position, not remove it entirely.
  • Some sources classify the relationship as mutualistic, which means that both animals benefit from each others' presence. Juvenile remoras sometimes operate "cleaning stations", where they perform a similar service to cleaner wrasses, which is more clearly mutualistic than the relationship between an adult remora and its host animal.
  • The second game is accurate when it states that remoras are sometimes eaten by their host animals.
• Something unusual about the specific remora species in-game is that it tends to be more often free-swimming than other remora species - that is, it doesn't always need to have a host. When it comes to host animals, though, the specific remora species in-game seems to prefer sharks. However, it has been observed sticking onto any fish that would have it, including other remoras.
• Another name for this creature is the suckerfish, due to the fact that they attach themselves to other fish by using a sucker on their heads. The specific species in-game (Echeneis naucrates) is also called the live sharksucker or the slender sharksucker. In Mexico, it is called rémora rayada and pega pega. The name "remora", while used for E. naucrates in-game, can refer to the entirety of the family this fish belongs to, Echeneidae.
  • Another group of fish, polecostomuses (in the family Loricariidae), are also commonly referred to as suckerfish. Of these, three appear in-game, but only in Blue World: the royal panaque, the zebra pleco, and the scarlet-trimmed pleco.

• The word "remora" itself is Latin for "delay" or "hindrance". This originates in stories amongst ancient sailors who reported that a remora could significantly slow down a ship by attaching to it. Two of these legends came from the naturalist and philosopher Pliny the Elder, who reported that remoras slowed down the ships of Roman emperor Caligula and Roman general Mark Antony. Pliny considered them a bad omen because Caligula was assassinated by his own men not long after learning of their presence.

• Contrary to assumptions, the "sucker pad" doesn't actually generate any suction force. Instead, it is lined with minuscule barbs that cause huge amounts of friction, making it nearly impossible for the remora to slip off of whatever surface it decides to attach itself to. There is also a large amount of blood vessels beneath the pad, and these generate pressure, which causes the spines to rub up against the surface even more. These barbs are also positioned on layered tissue structures called "laminae" (singular "lamina") that the remora can raise or lower in order to further secure or release itself to or from a surface.
  • The entire structure is completed by a raised rim that creates a vacuum seal, not allowing any more water in or out until the remora decides.
• The remora's tendency to attach itself to other creatures is utilized by humans for fishing. A line is tied to the remora's tail, and it is let loose into the water; when it latches onto a host fish, the remora and host are then both reeled in.

Navigation

Large Marine Life

Red Sea Bream • Asian Sheepshead Wrasse • Golden Trevally • Giant Trevally • Largehead Hairtail
Pilotfish • Mahi-Mahi • Antarctic Toothfish • Longtooth Grouper • White Grouper • Humphead Wrasse
Giant Grouper • Great Barracuda • Meagre • Bartail Flathead • Atlantic Tarpon • Atlantic Bluefin Tuna
Chinook Salmon • Striped Marlin • Indo-Pacific Sailfish • Olive Flounder • Coelacanth • Red Cornetfish
European Conger Eel • Great White Shark • Scalloped Hammerhead • Sand Tiger • Greenland Shark
Tiger Shark • Whale Shark • Basking Shark • Pelagic Thresher Shark • Great Sturgeon
Bowmouth Guitarfish • Dwarf Sawfish • Remora • Whitetip Reef Shark • Banded Houndshark • Epaulette Shark • Zebra Shark • Tasselled Wobbegong • Japanese Bullhead Shark
Blotchy Swell Shark • Cloudy Catshark • Japanese Angelshark • Japanese Eagle Ray • Manta Ray