Remoras

These creatures are quite odd looking. A remora typically attaches itself to a larger fish, shark, ray or turtle. Perhaps they eat the bits of food that their traveling companions drop. Typically they do not harm the host, but occasionally, they may congregate around the gills and cause a problem. So if you ever stumble upon a sluggish manta or whale shark with a bunch of these suckers on their gills, give a hand and remove them by grabbing the head and pushing back toward the tail.

And here it is in profile form. You can see the “sucker” on top of its head.  And yes, that is the top of its head even though it looks like it is swimming upsidedown.

And, finally here is the Remora with his “sneaker tread” fully exposed. This is the part that sucks onto its ride.