Slender suckerfish

Taxobox
name = Slender suckerfish


image_caption = Drawing by Dr Tony Ayling
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Actinopterygii
ordo = Osmeriformes
familia = Microstomatidae
genus = "Phtheirichthys"
genus_authority = Gill, 1862
species = "P. lineatus"
binomial = "Phtheirichthys lineatus"
binomial_authority = (Menzies, 1791) The slender suckerfish, "Phtheirichthys lineatus", is a species of remora, the only member of the genus "Phtheirichthys", found circumglobally in tropical and subtropical seas. Its length is between 50 and 75 cm.

The slender suckerfish is a thin round-bodied elongate species with small eyes and an upturned mouth the lower jaw of which protrudes further forward than the lower. The single dorsal and anal fins each contain 33 rays and are mirror images of each other. The caudal fin is rounded and paddle-shaped.

Coloration is dark brown with white longitudinal stripes.

The slender suckerfish is most often found attached to barracudas but it is also found on other fishes and sea turtles. It clings to the body of its host but is also found inside gill chambers.

References

*
* Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, "Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand", (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8