Author: Lowe, 1839
Remora brachyptera Lowe, 1839
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Remora brachyptera (Lowe, 1839) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: dorsal and anal fins long, dorsal finrays 27-34; anal finrays 22-28; disc laminae 15-18, disc length 28 40% SL; pectoral finrays 23-27, with a simple branch extending to tips, distal two-thirds of pectoral finrays flexible; disc spinules pointed, arranged in 2-3 irregular rows in larger specimens. Colour: head, trunk and fins more or less uniform, light tan to dusky. Pectoral and pelvic fins may be lighter and dorsal, anal and caudal fins darker in some specimens. Body colour observed in living specimen bluish-white. Size: 260 mm SL.
Habitat: oceanic; similar to that of R. remora. Billfishes are preferred hosts; rarely observed free-swimming. Food: no data. Reproduction: no data.
Distribution: western Mediterranean and off the Azores. Elsewhere, worldwide in warm waters.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Strasburg, 1964, 18 (1): 56 | Blache, 1964: 45-47, 2 fig.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.