Echeneis (fish)
| Echeneis Temporal range: Miocene – Recent | |
|---|---|
| E. naucrates, showing suction disc | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Carangiformes |
| Suborder: | Carangoidei |
| Family: | Echeneidae |
| Genus: | Echeneis Linnaeus, 1758 |
| Type species | |
| Leptecheneis lunata Linnaeus, 1758 | |
| Synonyms | |
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Echeneis is a genus of fish in the family Echeneidae, the remoras. The genus is distributed in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.
The generic name Echeneis comes from the Greek echein meaning "to hold" and naus meaning "ship", a reference to the ability of these fish to attach themselves to the hulls of vessels and, in legend, to slow them down.