Animal of the week|Nature’s most diligent user of public transport is undoubtedly the remora fish, science journalist Niko Kettunen writes in his column.
The summary is made by artificial intelligence and checked by a human.
Remorakala is nature’s most diligent user of public transport, traveling from one place to another on the back of a shark with the help of a suction plate on its head.
In his column, science journalist Niko Kettunen compares the remora’s way of traveling with rail transport projects in the capital region.
During the trip, the fish cleans parasites from the shark’s skin in exchange for a free ride.
During the journey, the water flows more efficiently to the fish’s gills, so breathing becomes easier.
Rail traffic the projects sped forward when Espoo accepted the so-called “train of the hour” and it was decided to build a tram in Vantaa.
Functional public transport is also important for animals. Nature’s most diligent user of public transport is undoubtedly the remora fish. This peculiar bugger attaches to a shark with a suction plate on its head and travels from place to place on it.
The remora’s journey can also take well over an hour and it doesn’t make it to the airport either. Still, it is certainly satisfied with the mobility service provided by the surrounding fish community.
He lingers live in tropical waters and look like a small shark themselves. Type species Remora remora usually grows half a meter long.
In evolution, the dorsal fin of the fish has developed into a gripper organ that looks like the sole of a shoe, with which the remora can stick to larger fish as tightly as a suction cup. Then the remora travels, perhaps humming along Iggy Popin the famous Passenger song.
The suction plate is somewhat similar to the sole of a shoe.
Sometimes you have to change lines. If necessary, the remora moves onto a sea turtle or even a whale.
In the sea, public transport is free and also includes a meal. Along the way, the remora snaps into its mouth parasites living in the shark’s skin, such as tapeworms and other worms. In exchange for the ride, it cleans the bus.
Any the remora has no other benefit to its rider. Unemployed, it just drives around on public roads all day long, as opponents of the tram project in Tampere once painted.
Probably the remora slows down the shark’s swimming, especially since there can be several remora fish in the same ride. In one in the study however, it has been calculated that the remora tries to attach as hydrodynamically as possible, i.e. it tries to minimize the water resistance it causes.
Remora benefits from the ride also in the sense that it is easier to breathe during the shark’s journey. It makes water flow to its gills more efficiently and with less effort.
After all, it would also be easier for everyone in the capital region to breathe if most of the movement was done without exhaust gases.