Remoras, better known as suckerfish, have developed an interesting way to stay alive. The strange fish can swim just fine on its own, but they like to suction onto a passing fish, whale, or even boat in order to conserve energy, hide from predators, and get a meal. Recent POV footage from a study done by marine biologists at Griffith University offers a peek into their strange, semi-parasitic lives.
By attaching a camera using suction cups to humpback whales along Australia’s east coast, the researchers were able to get a unique vantage point of remoras as they hitchhiked their way around the ocean.
Although it might seem similar to something like a tick latching onto a deer, remoras are actually beneficial to the animals they attach themselves to — but the whales don’t know that.
“Remoras are harmless and are not a parasite to the whales; in fact, they can benefit the whale by removing sea lice and other crustaceans wanting to settle on the whale’s body,” Dr Olaf Meynecke, a Griffith University marine scientist and co-leader of the Whales and Climate Research Program, said in a statement. “However, they do seem to be in much higher numbers – about 15-20 remoras per whale – with whales that appear to shed more skin.”
If there’s room, remoras will grab on. They’re not worried about crowding each other, so it can sometimes look a bit like an infestation.
“In some cases, we saw as many as 50 remoras on a single whale,” Dr. Meynecke said. “Even though they are likely beneficial for the whales, as they eat other host organisms such as sea lice, the whales seem to dislike their presence. We have observed whales eyeing them, undertaking multiple breaches, then checking again.”
As with most of these kinds of exploratory missions, the team is hoping that the information they’re able to glean from the footage will help with increasing our general knowledge about remoras and how they interact with whales as the whales migrate.
“While it’s known that these humpbacks spend part of the year in Antarctic waters, it remains unclear whether their hitchhikers stay with them for the entire journey,” wrote IFLScience. “Additionally, scientists don’t have a full picture of the remoras’ lifecycle, although they believe it could be closely tied to the movements of the whales.”
