| Whalesucker | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Carangiformes |
| Family: | Echeneidae |
| Genus: | Remora |
| Species: | R. australis
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| Binomial name | |
| Remora australis (F. D. Bennett, 1840)
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| Synonyms | |
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The whalesucker (Remora australis) is a species of remora in the family Echeneidae, so named because it attaches itself exclusively to cetaceans, in a mutualistic interaction. It is found worldwide in tropical and warm waters; in the Gulf of Mexico and western Atlantic Ocean, it occurs from Texas to Brazil, and in the eastern Pacific Ocean, it occurs from Vancouver Island to Chile.[2] It is the rarest member of the remora family, though this may reflect more the uncommon collection of cetaceans in the wild rather than the whalesucker's actual abundance.[3]
- ^ Collette, B.; Smith-Vaniz, W.F.; Williams, J.T.; Pina Amargos, F. & Curtis, M. (2017) [errata version of 2015 assessment]. "Remora australis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2015: e.T198650A115342516. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T198650A16644012.en.
- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Remora australis". FishBase. April 2013 version.
- ^ O'Toole, B (Apr 2002). "Phylogeny of the species of the superfamily Echeneoidea (Perciformes: Carangoidei: Echeneidae, Rachycentridae, and Coryphaenidae), with an interpretation of echeneid hitchhiking behaviour". Canadian Journal of Zoology. 80 (4): 596–823. Bibcode:2002CaJZ...80..596O. doi:10.1139/z02-031.