My daughter is obsessed with sharks. She watched "Shark Week" religiously. She wants to be an Oceanographer, and study marine life. I watched a lot of Shark Week along side of her to make sure there was nothing to graphic being viewed. One thing that I noticed was a bunch of little fish that hang out around the shark. Sometimes they are underneath and it made me wonder, what is up with those fish? How are they not eaten? Why do they hang out under the shark...are they stupid? Have they not witnessed a feeding frenzy and seen what happens to those schools? It made me want to find out what the story is with those fish?
They are called Remoras. They have a modified dorsal fin that acts kinda like a sucker that attaches them to whatever they are swimming with.
As for why they don't get eaten, they are in a symbiotic relationship with the sharks. In many cases, a dualistic one (meaning both parties benefit).
The Remora gets a free ride and free food (they eat scraps of food and small bacteria) while the shark gets a free cleanup job/anti-bacterial job.
After reading up on Remora's, it got me thinking....in life there are some Remora's in my life. I have a bunch of people, some friends...some family that get a free ride. They come along and hang out around me, "eating the scraps I don't get to". They feed off of my kindness, but make no mistake, I know who, I am keen on what they are doing..only know I have a name for them!
Do you have Remora's? Is it a mutual benefit? How much do you appreciate or tolerate the free clean up job? Are Remora's a necessity in life?
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