Joel Kontinen
Hitchhiking fish that are famous for suctioning themselves to other marine animals have a very unexpected hiding place: the rear ends of manta rays, a new study finds.
These fish,
known as remoras (family Echeneidae), frequently get free rides when they use
their suction discs — modified backs, or dorsal fins — to latch onto marine animals like sharks, whales and sea turtles. It has generally been thought that
remoras provide a cleaning service to the animal they are traveling with,
picking parasites off their skin.
It is an intelligent design element that keeps these marine
animals clean.
But this
new discovery shows that this relationship might not always be beneficial to
the manta rays.
The
suckerfish's behaviour is "pretty weird," study first author Emily Yeager, a doctoral candidate in the
Department of Marine Biology and Ecology at the University of Miami, said.
Source:
Bethany Augliere 2026 'A combination of amazement and horror': Hitchhiker fish hide in manta ray buttholes | Live Science 12 May
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