Hi hello howdy we here at weird biology dot com feel that it’s been a while since we’ve talked about/relentlessly mocked a weird animal, so now it’s time to explore Mother Nature’s basement once again. (It’s where she keeps all the cool stuff.) So we’d like to formally introduce you to
which is an important-sounding name for a very strange fish.
I don’t even know what to say to this. Look at them. Look.
JUST FOR STARTERS: they look like god read the ikea instructions wrong and assembled them upside-down. (In his defense, we’ve all done that thing where you assemble an ikea chair backwards because NONE OF US CAN READ.) Their true weirdness shines out in the fact that Remoras use the strange pad-like-structure on top of their heads (Yes, that’s the top) to literally suction themselves onto the bodies of passing animals. Like a car window Garfield hitchhiker.
Their instinctual drive to become a living hood ornament to any passing object larger than themselves drives them to attach to sea turtles, the occasional freaked-out diver, whales, boats, aaaaand sharks. It’s usually sharks.
(Imagine if your life goal was to glue yourself to a lion. Face-first.)
Surprisingly, sharks appear to tolerate these hitchhiking freeloaders. The Remora becomes the shark’s personal vacuum cleaner, in exchange for a ride and hardly ever getting eaten. A final lesson we can take from our friend the Remora is to seize opportunity whenever you can, but watch out in case it has teeth.
IMAGE SOURCES
1. Albert Kok, Wikimedia Commons
2. Duncan Wright, Wikimedia Commons