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Teleostei (teleosts) > Carangiformes (Jacks) > Echeneidae (Remoras)
Etymology: Phtheirichthys: Greek, ptheiros, a fish that parasites other + Greek, ichthys = fish (Ref. 45335).

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; pelagic-oceanic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 5 m (Ref. 86942). Subtropical

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Worldwide in tropical and subtropical waters. Western Atlantic: South Carolina, USA and northern Gulf of Mexico to northern South America (Ref. 7251). Western Central Pacific: Guam (Ref. 35720).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 76.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2850)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 32 - 38; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 31 - 38. Bluish black above, white below; 3 stripes along sides (upper pale blue, middle black, lower silvery).

Rare (Ref. 4389), oceanic species. Most often found attached to barracudas but also to other fishes and sea turtles. Clings to body of host and also found inside gill chambers.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Heemstra, P.C., 1986. Echeneidae. p. 662-664. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. (Ref. 4389)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)

Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 23 August 2012

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators

Ecology
Ecology

Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance

Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics

Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
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Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith

Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)

Genetics
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability

Human related
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Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.

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Taxonomy
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References
References

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 20.9 - 29.1, mean 26.9 °C (based on 39944 cells).

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 1.0039 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00257 (0.00110 - 0.00600), b=3.17 (2.96 - 3.38), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 3.6 ±0.5 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives

Resilience (Ref. 120179): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Assuming Fec < 10,000).

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Moderate to high vulnerability (50 of 100).

Phtheirichthys lineatus (Menzies, 1791)