The confirmed occurrence of two specimens of Remora remora (Linnaeus, 1758) from Mersin Bay (NE Mediterranean, Turkey)

Abstract

Remoras attach to sharks, big fish, and sea turtles and continue their lives with these creatures. Kapızlı and Tekeli beaches are located near Göksu Delta and Anamur nesting areas of Caretta caretta. In this study, two Remora individuals were caught with a fishing rod in July, when the ovulation was most intense. The smaller remora individual (33 cm) was caught from the coast of Tekeli with the chicken breast at a depth of 2.5 m, and the larger one (66 cm) with bread at a depth of 1.5 m from Kapızlı beach on 24.07.2020. The two Remora individuals caught were probably attached to the sea turtles. However, probably due to sea turtles going to the beach to lay eggs, Remoras started to free-swimming, and they were caught with the fishing line since they could not be fed. The present study reported that the first occurrence of Remora specimens is probably attached to turtles for Turkey's northeastern Mediterranean coast. Besides, this study is provided some morphometric and meristic data on this species and discussed a probable host of these specimens.