did this happen to anyone else? pilot-fish question

[utnapistim]

hi,

last week, during a dive in sharm el sheikh there was a .5m pilot fish who befriended us:

first, he got really really close to the dive leader, and started swimming by one of his legs; then, by his back and tank;

then (when he tried scaring the pilot off), he just picked a new victim from the group and continued;

by the end of the dive, after following arround three or four of us (i think) it was following me (i signaled my buddy i had a small buddy with me and kept swimming along). I was really sad having to exit the water.

he probably thought we were some sort of big fishes ...

did anything symilar happen to anyone here?

Do all pilot fish do that?

 

[Louie]

Yes they're quite fun those pilotfish/ramoras. I've been followed a few times - coincidently, I recall seeing divers being followed in Ras Mohammad. Most numerous I recall was in Fiji in an area where the local resorts feed the Bronze Whaler Sharks.

They probably thought you were an unusual shark.

The most evil stalking fish has got to be the Cleaner Wrasse. They eat dead skin so if you have scabs, sores and bites, they rip pieces off (and it hurts). If you have an inexperienced diver in a shorty, it frightens the life out of them and they try to bolt to the surface!!

 

[LJinFLA]

I had a remora do something similal off of Palm Beach, FL. It followed me and my buddy closely for some time under water but didn't get close. Then we we began our ascent, it start circling closer and closer and then bumping up against us from behind. We had to keep pushing it away with our lobster snares. It was a little creepy because it was about a yard long and I wasn't exactly sure whether it wanted to attach itself to me or pick some dead flesh like the poster above mentioned.

When I got back to shore I did some research, and they do atttach themselves via a pretty strong sucker to their host but really do not feed from them. They are more interested in the free ride and scraps from their host's meal. The suckers are pretty strong an painful from what I read. In some parts of the world they used be used for hunting turtles and large fish by putting large ones on line and letting them find a host and attach themselves to it. Then the fisherman would reel in the fish using the remora to hang on to the turtle or fish.

Seems a little unbelieveable but that's what i read.

LJ

 

[DandyDon]

I've seen it a few times. Cannot get rid of them once they decide to hook on, until you exit the water. :14: They seem to go for the larger divers over the skinny ones.

 

[agilis]

I've had small, 8 to 12 inch Remoras follow me closely many, many times, in the Caribbean. For some reason, more often when snorkeling than while scuba diving. Usually there is no problem. In fact, I've sometimes felt sorry for these fish when they'd follow me right up to the beach. I felt as though I were abandoning them. They can be a problem if you are wearing only a bathing suit. I've had a couple sudddenly bite a nipple painfully hard. Obviously, they thought it was some sort of edible parasite.

 

[Louie]

I've had a couple sudddenly bite a nipple painfully hard. Obviously, they thought it was some sort of edible parasite.

You may have started a new craze of ramora diving. Perhaps a PADI Specialty?

 

[DandyDon]

I've had a couple sudddenly bite a nipple painfully hard. Obviously, they thought it was some sort of edible parasite.

Sounds bad, lady... :11:

 

[TCDiver1]

They seem to go for the larger divers over the skinny ones.

.... stick with the bigger ones, they must be getting more chow ... smart fish!

 

[miketsp]

We had a bad experience with a Remora at the beginning of this year.

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=83714

Since I made this post I talked to a marine biologist that told me that this can happen when they have a problem with their sucker so they can't stick on to a host and they end up with a limited food supply.

 

[bluwolf]

Haven't had one attempt to attach, but have been on a boat in the gulf over the VA FOG, and had one in the water. Just kinda gave me the willies wondering where his ride was.