Remoras Dive Deep: New Findings Reframe Hitchhiking With Manta Rays
A new study documents remoras diving into manta ray cloacas and attaching beneath gill slits across manta species, suggesting these hitchhikers may be more invasive than previously thought. While remoras can help by cleaning parasites, their aggressive attachment can increase drag and cause injuries, pushing the relationship along a spectrum from mutualism to parasitism and raising concerns for manta rays already facing threats from fishing, habitat loss, and climate change. Researchers emphasize the interaction is nuanced and context-dependent, potentially beneficial in some cases and costly in others.