Remora Shark Suckers

Remoras are a slender fish that grow to about three feet long and it has a suction cup on top of its head for attaching itself to large sharks and other big fish. The suction cup is a modified fin and the remora holds onto it host so it can feed on parasites and also eat small scraps of food released into the water when the shark feeds. Sometimes the remora looses its grip on a shark and must free swim. When this happens the fish will sometimes try to attach to a scuba diver! We had this happen to us while diving with the big sharks in the Bahamas and it was super funny watching the remora try to attach to the divers tank or back. They are very persistent and will spend ten minutes trying to attach to a single diver before giving up and finding a more cooperative host. Marine Biologist Terry Lilley