Pilot fish
The pilot fish (Naucrates ductor) is a fish that lives in many places of the world. They live in warm water. They eat parasites on larger fish.
| Pilot fish | |
|---|---|
| |
| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Carangiformes |
| Family: | Carangidae |
| Genus: | Naucrates Rafinesque, 1810 |
| Species: | N. ductor
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| Binomial name | |
| Naucrates ductor | |
Pilot fish usually gather around sharks (also rays and sea turtles). They eat parasites on their host, and small pieces of food that their host does not eat (leftovers). When pilot fish are young, they gather around jellyfish and drifting seaweeds.
Pilot fish follow sharks because other animals which might eat them will not come near a shark. In return, sharks do not eat pilot fish because pilot fish eat their parasites. This is called a "mutualist" relationship. Small pilot fish are often seen swimming into the mouth of a shark to eat small pieces of food from the shark's teeth. Sailors even said that sharks and pilot fish act like close friends. When a ship captured "their" shark, the pilot fish followed the ship. Some people reported that the pilot fish would follow the ship for up to six weeks.[2] And they do show signs of distress in the absence of their shark.[3][4]
They are also known to follow ships, sometimes for long distances: many pilot fish have been sighted on the shores of England.[5][6]
The pilot fish has a dark blue to blackish-silver colour, and are slightly lighter in colour underneath. They have between five and seven dark stripes going from top to bottom. When the fish is excited, these stripes disappear, and three large blue patches appear on its back. The pilot fish is usually about 30 cm long, but sometimes they can be as big as 70cm.
The pilot fish will not hurt people, and they are said to be good to eat. They are difficult to catch, though.[7]
Related pages
References
- ↑ Smith-Vaniz, W.F.; Brown, J.; Pina Amargos, F.; Williams, J.T. & Curtis, M. (2015). "Naucrates ductor". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. 2015: e.T190452A115322218. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T190452A16643992.en.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|errata=ignored (help){{cite iucn}}: error: |doi= / |page= mismatch (help) - ↑ Murray, Hugh; Wilson, James; Greville R.K.; Jameson, Robert; Ainslie, Whitelaw; Rhind, William; Wallace, Prof.; Dalrymble, Clarence (1832). Historical and descriptive account of British India, from the most remote period to the present time. J&J Harper. p. 337.
- ↑ Schomburgk, Robert Hermann (1848). History of Barbados: comprising a geographical and statistical description of the island. Psychology Press. p. 669. ISBN 0-7146-1948-5.
- ↑ Gudger, E. W. (1929). "Some instances of supposed sympathy among fishes". The Scientific Monthly. 28 (3): 267. Bibcode:1929SciMo..28..266G.
- ↑ Couch, Jonathan (1863). A History of the Fishes of the British Islands. Groombridge & Sons. p. 109.
- ↑ Yarrell, William (1841). A History of British Fishes (2nd. ed.). John van Voorst. p. 170.
The pilot-fish has been so often seen, and occasionally taken on our southern coast, as to be entitled to a place among British Fishes[.]
- ↑ Dixon C.C. 1925. The Sargasso Sea. The Geographical Journal 66 (5): 440. doi:10.2307/1782665. JSTOR 1782665. "They take the hook readily, but go quite insane when hooked, and are difficult to land in spite of their size, 6 to 16 inches".
Further reading
- "ITIS Standard Report Page: Naucrates ductor". ITIS. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
- Randall, John; Allen, Gerald and Steen, Roger (1997). Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. University of Hawaii Press. p. 164. ISBN 0824818954.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Eschmeyer, William N.; Herald, Earl Stannard (1999). A Field Guide to Pacific Coast Fishes. Houghton Mifflin Books. pp. 208–209. ISBN 0395268737.
- Stafford-Deitsch, Jeremy (2000). Sharks of Florida, the Bahamas, the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. Trident Press. p. 32. ISBN 1900724456.
- "Naucrates ductor, Pilotfish". FishBase. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
- NOAA Library Image: http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/historic/nmfs/figb0368.htm
Other websites
- Naucrates ductor at FishBase