Pilot fish

Pilot fish
	Pilot fish ( Naucrates ductor )
Systematics
	Carangaria
Order :	Carangiformes
Subordination :	Mackerel relatives (Carangoidei)
Family :	Jackfish (Carangidae)
Genre :	Naucrates
Type :	Pilot fish
Scientific name of the genus
	Naucrates
	Rafinesque , 1810
Scientific name of the species
	Naucrates ductor
	( Linnaeus , 1758)

The pilot or pilot-fish ( Naucrates ductor ) is a fish of the family Carangidae . Pilot fish can almost exclusively be observed when accompanying sharks , manta rays or sea turtles . They rid them of skin parasites, eat leftovers and excretions. Young pilot fish swim with jellyfish or floating seaweed .

Pilot fish also follow ships and in earlier times it was believed that they would guide ships to their destination.

Pilot fish grow up to 60 or 70 centimeters long. Characteristic are five to seven dark transverse bands around their body. The ligaments lighten under stress, the body appears silvery-white with three larger, blue spots on the back.

distribution

Pilot fish accompany a whitetip deep sea shark

Pilot fish live in tropical, subtropical and temperate seas around the world. In the western Atlantic their distribution area extends from Nova Scotia to the coast of Argentina , in the eastern Atlantic from the British Isles to South Africa . In the eastern Pacific they live from Vancouver to the coast of Chile , also in the entire Indian Ocean and in the central Indo-Pacific from Australia to Japan .

Web links

Commons : pilot fish - collection of images, videos and audio files

Pilot fish on Fishbase.org (English)

Individual evidence

^ Robert Patterson: First Steps to Zoology . Simms and McIntyre, 1849, p. 149: “ [The pilot fish is] supposed by the ancients to have pointed out to navigators their desired course, and borne them company during their voyage. "
↑
The sources give different dimensions:
1. Eschmayer & Herald 1999, p. 208, indicates a maximum height of 61 cm, with an average of 30 cm in the study area in the Pacific.
2. Randall, Allen & Steen 1997, p. 164, like FishBase , specifies a maximum size of 70 cm.
3. Gerald Jennings mentions 60 cm as the average height: The Sea and Freshwater Fishes of Australia and New Guinea . Calypso Publications, 1997, ISBN 0-906301-62-9 , p. 163.

^ William N. Eschmeyer, Earl Stannard Herald: A Field Guide to Pacific Coast Fishes . Houghton Mifflin Books, 1999, ISBN 0-395-26873-7 , p. 208 .

[1] Robert Patterson: First Steps to Zoology . Simms and McIntyre, 1849, p. 149: “ [The pilot fish is] supposed by the ancients to have pointed out to navigators their desired course, and borne them company during their voyage. "

[2] The sources give different dimensions:

Eschmayer & Herald 1999, p. 208, indicates a maximum height of 61 cm, with an average of 30 cm in the study area in the Pacific.

Randall, Allen & Steen 1997, p. 164, like FishBase , specifies a maximum size of 70 cm.

Gerald Jennings mentions 60 cm as the average height: The Sea and Freshwater Fishes of Australia and New Guinea . Calypso Publications, 1997, ISBN 0-906301-62-9 , p. 163.

The third volume of this older source gives a length of about 30 cm (English: "about a foot") : William Somerville Orr: Orr's Circle of the Sciences . Houlston & Stoneman, 1865, ISBN 1-142-00237-3 , p.50 .

[3] Eschmayer & Herald 1999, p. 208, indicates a maximum height of 61 cm, with an average of 30 cm in the study area in the Pacific.

[4] Randall, Allen & Steen 1997, p. 164, like FishBase , specifies a maximum size of 70 cm.

[5] Gerald Jennings mentions 60 cm as the average height: The Sea and Freshwater Fishes of Australia and New Guinea . Calypso Publications, 1997, ISBN 0-906301-62-9 , p. 163.

[6] The third volume of this older source gives a length of about 30 cm (English: "about a foot") : William Somerville Orr: Orr's Circle of the Sciences . Houlston & Stoneman, 1865, ISBN 1-142-00237-3 , p.50 .

[3] William N. Eschmeyer, Earl Stannard Herald: A Field Guide to Pacific Coast Fishes . Houghton Mifflin Books, 1999, ISBN 0-395-26873-7 , p. 208 .