In this clip from Blue Planet III, David Attenborough narrates a truly bizarre scene involving a dugong, a remora fish and a post-dinner nap. Make sure you’re not eating dinner before you go on...
Dugongs are slow-moving vegetarian mammals who spend up to ten hours a day grazing on tough seagrass. And this grazing is hard work – so after feasting for hours, they inevitably head for a hard-earned nap. That’s when the remora fish enter the scene.
“Remora fish are freeloaders – and they know a dugong is key for an easy meal,” narrates Attenborough.
Remora fish are known for their distinctive dorsal fins, which take the form of ‘suction cups’ – slat-like structures that open and close to create suction. They use them to attach themselves to the skin of larger marine animals, such as dugongs.
“The remora sneaks in, latching on with a head-mounted suction cup for a banquet of dead skin and parasites,” narrates Attenborough.
But that’s not all the remora is looking for. This is just the first course, as the dugong has much more to offer – and from an unlikely source.
“A small bubble of flatulence signals the main course is imminent.” In the words of Attenborough: dugong dung.
Once the remora fish is done feeding on whatever the dugong’s body has expelled, the mammal goes to feed again in peace, slowly gliding across the seafloor.
But not for long – the remora is always lurking, looking for its next meal.
Top image: dugong on seabed feeding on seagrass meadow in Marsa Alam, southern Egypt. Credit: Ventura Romero/Getty Images
