Researchers at Griffith University attached underwater camera tags to migrating humpbacks along Australia’s east coast and captured dozens of remoras clinging to the whales. The footage shows remoras are remarkably agile, repeatedly detaching and reattaching even after rapid ascents and whale breaches. Their oval dorsal plate creates a vacuum-like hold rather than literal suction, and species such as Remora australis will also eat shed whale skin when parasites are scarce. Key questions remain about whether remoras follow whales to Antarctica and how remora spawning in the East Australian Current ties to whale migration.
Remoras’ Wild Ride: How Suckerfish Cling to Migrating Humpback Whales
Researchers at Griffith University attached underwater camera tags to migrating humpbacks along Australia’s east coast and captured dozens of remoras clinging to the whales. The footage shows remoras are remarkably agile, repeatedly detaching and reattaching even after rapid ascents and whale breaches. Their oval dorsal plate creates a vacuum-like hold rather than literal suction, and species such as Remora australis will also eat shed whale skin when parasites are scarce. Key questions remain about whether remoras follow whales to Antarctica and how remora spawning in the East Australian Current ties to whale migration.
01:38, 06.11.2025Science
Little suckerfish, big adventure
Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) rarely travel alone. Alongside their pods, these large cetaceans often carry dozens of remoras — commonly called suckerfish — from the family Echeneidae. Remoras attach to whales and feed on sea lice and other crustaceans that live on the mammal's skin.
Remoras use a distinctive, ovalized dorsal plate (a modified dorsal fin) that functions like a suction device. Flexible ridges in the plate lift and lower to generate adhesive force, creating a vacuum-like effect that lets the fish cling to the whale or detach and swim independently when they need to.
Although the mechanics of attachment are fairly well understood, scientists know much less about how remoras behave day to day while traveling with whales. To investigate, researchers at Griffith University in Australia fitted migrating humpbacks along the east coast with underwater camera tags. The footage revealed surprising details about remora agility, diet and how whales react to their passengers.
One of the biggest surprises from the tag videos was how freely the remoras moved and how they repeatedly returned to the whale's body, even during very rapid ascents and immediately after a breach — Olaf Meynecke, marine scientist.
Cameras captured remoras reattaching rapidly after whales breached and submerged, demonstrating remarkable speed and nimbleness in turbulent water. Hydrodynamically, remoras are well adapted for life on a moving host: their dorsal plates generate negative pressure and friction rather than true suction, allowing stable attachment despite powerful currents.
Diet-wise, species such as the whale sucker (Remora australis) are opportunistic. When parasites like sea lice are scarce, remoras will feed on shed whale skin. Despite the potential benefit to whales from parasite removal, host whales do not always appear pleased — researchers observed whales tracking remoras with their eyes, breaching multiple times and then checking the area afterward.
Many questions remain. Meynecke's team still does not know whether remoras accompany whales on the long southern migrations toward Antarctica or the full details of the remora life cycle. Remoras spawn in the East Australian Current, where larvae develop into miniature suckerfish that must find a host quickly to survive — a timing that could be linked to whale migrations.
That could suggest the time of reproduction could be linked to the whales' migration cycle — Olaf Meynecke.
Ongoing tagging and video studies aim to clarify these mysteries and deepen our understanding of this unusual, long-standing marine partnership.