English Name: Brown remora
Family: ECHENEIDAE
Local Name: Attamas
Order: Perciformes
Size: Max. 62 cm
Specimen: MRS/0016/86
Distinctive Characters: Dorsal fin with 22-26 rays. Anal fin with 22-24 rays. Pectoral rays 26-30. Body depth about 7.5 in standard length. Body elongate and moderately robust. Depressed head with a sucking disc which does not extend posteriorly as far as end of depressed pectoral fin. Sucking disc with 15-19 laminae. Pectoral fin short and round. Caudal fin emarginate. Scales minute and indistinct.
Colour: Uniform dusky brown to almost black.
Habitat and Biology: In coastal and oceanic waters. Brown remoras attach themselves to a variety of fishes including sharks, marlins and turtles. They feed mainly on scraps that result from the feeding activities of their host. In addition, they sometimes eat parasitic cnistaceans that attach on their host.
Distribution: Circumtropical.
Remarks: The remoras (like Remora remora) are easily distinguished by the sucking disc on the top of the head, which represents a modification of the spinous dorsal fin.