slender suckerfish
Phtheirichthys lineatus (Menzies, 1791)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
As file
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Open encyclopedia reference
The slender suckerfish or lousefish (Phtheirichthys lineatus) is a rare species of remora found around the world in tropical and subtropical seas, in areas like the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Ocean, from depths from 1 to 100 meters deep. The body of the slender suckerfish is elongated, with long dorsal and anal fins. The dorsal fin rays number 29-33, the anal fin rays 29-34, and the pectoral fin rays 18-21. The adhesive disk atop the head is small, length 18-28% of the standard length, with 9-11 lamellae. The caudal fin is paddle-shaped. The head and body are pale, dark brown, or blackish. Larger specimens have a distinctive dark brown stripe running along the side of the body, bordered by narrower white stripes above and below. The fins are blackish, with the outer portions of the longer dorsal and anal fin rays and the margins of the outer caudal fin rays light. It usually reaches 34 cm (13 in) in total length (TL), but has been reported up to 76 cm (30 in) TL.
Wikipedia contributors, Slender suckerfish; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:33:02.354031+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Phtheirichthys lineatus (Menzies, 1791)
- Name authority
- (Menzies, 1791)
- Common name
- slender suckerfish
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Carangiformes
- Family
- Echeneidae
- Genus
- Phtheirichthys
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderCarangiformes
- familyEcheneidae Rafinesque, 1810
- genusPhtheirichthys Gill, 1862
- speciesPhtheirichthys lineatus (Menzies, 1791)
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Phtheirichthys multiradiatus Schultz, 1943 Schultz, 1943 | synonym |
| Echeneis apicalis Poey, 1860 Poey, 1860 | synonym |
| Echeneis lineata Menzies, 1791 Menzies, 1791 | synonym |
| Phtheirichthys lineata (Menzies, 1791) (Menzies, 1791) | synonym |
| Phthierichthys lineatus (Menzies, 1791) (Menzies, 1791) | synonym |
| Echeneis tropica Euphrasen, 1791 Euphrasen, 1791 | synonym |
| Echeneis sphyraenarum Poey, 1860 Poey, 1860 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=126849 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4GX77. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.