Fish of the Remora genus of the Echeneidae (remoras or suckerfish) family of the superfamily Percoidea of the Perciformes order of the Acanthopterygii superorder.
(Whalesucker. Photo by © Hamid Badar Osmany. fishbase.org)
Whalesucker (Remora australis) was first described in 1840 by the British surgeon and traveler Frederick Debell Bennett (1806-1859).
It is a pelagic species. It sticks to the body of whales and dolphins. The maximum recorded length is 76 cm. It feeds on the metabolic by-products of its “masters”.
(Whalesucker. Photo by © Robert Pitman. fishbase.org)
It is a rare inhabitant of the Adriatic Sea that enters it together with its “masters”.
Names of whalesucker (Remora australis) in other languages as follows:
Κολλησόψαρο φαλαινών (Kollisopsaro falenon) (Greek), Pegaballena (Spanish), Remora dei Cetacei (Italian), Китовый прилипало (Kitovyj prilipalo) (Russian), Priljepuša australijska (Serbian, Croatian), Kitov prilep (Slovenian), Yapışkan balığı (Turkish), Rémora des baleines (French).