What Animal Use Whales As A Host Fish
Remoras attached to a blue whale's dorsal fin
Minden Pictures/Alamy
Cameras fastened to bluish whales have inadvertently revealed new information about the behaviour of remora fish that hitch a ride on larger marine animals. Amidst other things, the footage shows that remoras movement around much more than was thought, skimming along only above the pare of the whales to minimise elevate.
"No ane else has looked to see what remoras are doing before," says Brooke Flammang at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
There are viii species of remora fish. Each fish has a suction disc that it uses to cling to larger animals such every bit whales. The disc is on the on the summit of the remora'southward head, then it clings upside down to sharks, manta rays and other rays.
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The remoras let go when they see a adventure to feed, grabbing the food and then reattaching. They also eat peel parasites on their hosts.
This lifestyle makes them difficult to study. But at a briefing in 2015, Flammang saw Jeremy Goldbogen at Stanford University, California, present videos obtained by attaching cameras to blue whales with suckers. He joked that he had inadvertently captured hundreds of hours of remora footage – exactly what Flammang wanted.
Read more: Pink rays spotted hitching a ride on the backs of stingrays
"We were happy to take all these photobombing remoras," she says. Her team'southward analysis of the footage shows that remoras' favourite spots on blue whales are backside the blowhole, behind the dorsal fin and around the pectoral fins.
A supercomputer analysis of fluid flow effectually blue whales confirmed there is much less elevate in these places, making it easier for the remoras to stay attached. All the same their suction discs are strong enough for them to cling on in places where drag is much higher, the team calculated. Indeed, the videos show they do sometimes adhere to places such as the tail flukes where elevate is very loftier.
The footage also reveals that remoras move around whales with ease, skimming just higher up their surface. The faster-flowing h2o in the thin layer betwixt the fish and whale "sucks" the remora towards the whales, ensuring they don't get detached, says Flammang.
Goldbogen could also do good from Flammang and her colleagues' work. The suction cups he has used to attach cameras to whales seldom remain attached for more than than 2 days, but Flammang'south team has adult an artificial version of the remora suction disc that should stay attached for weeks.
Periodical reference: Journal of Experimental Biology, DOI: 10.1242/jeb.226654
More on these topics:
- animal behaviour
Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2258565-suckerfish-use-fast-flowing-water-to-surf-across-swimming-whales-skin/
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