Description Remora australis, Syn.:Echeneis scutata (Remora)
Date 1898
Source Guide to the galleries of reptiles and fishes of the British Museum
Author W H Flower
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:EcheneisScutata.jpg

The whalesucker, Remora australis, is a species of remora in the family Echeneidae, so named because it attaches itself exclusively to cetaceans. 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. 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. Order: Perciformes, Family: Echeneidae, Genus: Remora, Species: Remora australis (F. D. Bennett, 1840)
Synonyms:
Echeneis australis F. D. Bennett, 1840
Remilegia australis (F. D. Bennett, 1840)
Echeneis scutata Günther, 1860
Remora scutata (Günther, 1860)