sharksucker

plural sharksuckers

1. The remora or suckerfish.

   The sharksucker may be found free swimming but is most often found hitchhiking on a larger fish by attaching itself to the fish with the sucker disk on top of its head.

   2007, Mike Lane, Angler's Guide to Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico, page 191

   2 more examples

   Shark fishermen sometimes receive an unexpected bonus in the form of small fishes known as remoras, or sharksuckers, which are attached to the sharks by a sucking disk located on the top of the head.

   1972, Earl Stannard Herald, Fishes of North America, page 155

   Remoras and sharksuckers directly attach themselves to large sharks, Manta Rays, and large bony fish, feeding on scraps of their hosts' dinners and taking smaller fish not eaten by the host.

   2012, Noble S. Proctor, A Field Guide to the Southeast Coast & Gulf of Mexico

   Synonyms: echeneid, echeneidid, remora, suckerfish