Absurd Creatures | That Fish That Attaches to Sharks? It's Actually Pretty Righteous

[Narrator] No offense to the sea,

but seriously, this image is getting darn near cliche.

A fish hitches a ride on a shark or a whale.

Yeah, yeah we got it!

The fish is called a Remora,

but it's no cliche.

It's actually far more fascinating than it lets on.

If you guessed that the Remora attaches

to other creatures with suction,

you'd be right.

What you might not know

is that the fish isn't suctioning with its mouth.

The Remora's suction cup is on the top of its noggin.

Check it out.

Nice hat, brah.

That hat is its highly modified dorsal fin.

The same fin you'd see a shark sticking out of the water.

When the Remora is born,

the fin is on its back, where it's supposed to be,

but migrates forward as the fish develops.

As an adult by attaching to larger fish

and even marine mammals like Dugongs,

the Remora not only gets a free ride to save energy,

but also a free meal.

If it's stuck to a carnivore like a shark,

after an attack, it'll gobble up the clouds of flesh.

With its less agro hosts,

it probably intercepts the parasites

that fall off their skin.

Things like tiny crustaceans called Copepods.

The thing is,

models show Remoras can slow down their hosts significantly.

That and they can end up rubbing their hosts raw.

So while fish and rays don't seem to mind the Remoras,

these suckers might in fact be parasitic,

Like, come on, guys.

Ever heard of a personal bubble?