Pilot fish

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Species of fish

title: "Pilot fish" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["animal-taxa-named-by-carl-linnaeus", "fish-described-in-1758", "naucratinae", "pantropical-fish"] description: "Species of fish" topic_path: "general/animal-taxa-named-by-carl-linnaeus" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilot_fish" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Species of fish ::

| name = Pilot fish | image = Pilot_fish,_India.jpg | image_caption = Near Mangalore, India | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = | display_parents = 3 | parent_authority = Rafinesque, 1810 | taxon = Naucrates ductor | authority = (Linnaeus, 1758) | synonyms = {{Specieslist |Gasterosteus ductor|Linnaeus, 1758 |Hemitripteronotus quinquemaculatus|Lacepède, 1801 |Naucrates fanfarus|Rafinesque, 1810 |Naucrates indicus|Lesson, 1831 |Naucrates noveboracensis|Cuvier, 1832 |Nauclerus compressus|Valenciennes, 1833 |Seriola dussumieri|Valenciennes, 1833 |Seriola succincta|Valenciennes, 1833 |Nauclerus abreviatus|Valenciennes, 1833 |Nauclerus brachycentrus|Valenciennes, 1833 |Nauclerus triacanthus|Valenciennes, 1833 |Nauclerus annularis|Valenciennes, 1833 |Nauclerus leucurus|Valenciennes, 1833 |Naucrates cyanophrys|Swainson, 1839 |Naucrates serratus|Swainson, 1839 |Thynnus pompilus|Gronow, 1854 |Naucrates polysarcus|Fowler, 1905 |Naucrates angeli|Whitley, 1931 | synonyms_ref =

The pilot fish (Naucrates ductor) is a carnivorous fish of the trevally, or jackfish family, Carangidae. It is widely distributed and lives in warm or tropical open seas.

Description

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Carcharhinus_longimanus_1.jpg" caption="Pilot fish swimming with an [[oceanic whitetip shark"] ::

The pilot fish congregates around sharks, rays, and sea turtles, where it eats ectoparasites on, and leftovers around, the host species; younger pilot fish are usually associated with jellyfish and drifting seaweeds. They are also known to follow ships, sometimes for long distances; one was found in County Cork, Ireland, and many pilot fish have been sighted on the shores of England. Their fondness for ships led the ancients to believe that they would navigate a ship to its desired course.

The pilot fish's colour is between dark blue and blackish-silver, with the belly being lighter in colour. The pilot fish is also known to have a temporary variation of colour when excited; its dark-coloured bars disappear, and its body turns silvery-white, with three broad blue patches on its back. It can be recognised by its five to seven distinctive traverse bands, which are of a much darker colour than the rest of the body. The pilot fish can grow up to 60–70 cm in length.Various sources give different figures:

  • Eschmayer & Herald 1999, p. 208, claims a maximum of 61 cm, averaging less than 30cm in the studied area (the Pacific).
  • Randall, Allen & Steen 1997, p. 164, gives a maximum figure of 70 cm, as does FishBase.
  • An average size of 60cm is given by
  • An older source gives a figure of "about a foot". See the third volume of .

The pilot fish is edible and is said to taste good, but it is rarely available due to its erratic behaviour when caught.

While pilot fish can be seen with all manner of sharks, they prefer accompanying the oceanic whitetip shark, Carcharhinus longimanus. The pilot fish's relationship with sharks is a mutualist one; the pilot fish gains protection from predators, while the shark gains freedom from parasites. It was often said by sailors that sharks and pilot fish share something like a "close companionship"; there were even tales of this fish following ships which had captured "their" shark for up to six weeks and showing signs of distress in its absence.

It is rare that a shark will feed on a pilot fish, and smaller pilot fish are frequently observed swimming into sharks' mouths to clean away fragments of food from between their teeth.

Etymology and metaphors

There are a few possible, conflicting etymologies for the term "pilot fish". One is that seafaring people believed that pilot fish, which would appear around the bow of their ships when they were close to land, were leading (or piloting) them back to port. An alternative etymology is that pilot fish were once, erroneously, thought to be piloting sharks to food, or even (as legends have it) piloting ships, whales and swimmers to safety.

The pilot fish is sometimes used as a metaphor or simile; "they are like the pilot fish to the shark, serving to lead him to his victim". Pilot fish are also used as a metaphor or simile for scavengers or looters which accompany a greater threat.

In myth

In Greek mythology, a sailor called Pompilus helped the nymph Ocyrhoë when she was fleeing away from the amorous god Apollo. The sailor moved the nymph from Miletus to the island of Samos and the god punished him by changing him into a pilot fish.

Pancrates of Arcadia stated that it was a sacred fish in honour to Poseidon and that it was forbidden to eat it. However, a fisherman called Epopeus ate it and paid for his audacity with his life.

References

References

  1. (2015). "''Naucrates ductor''".
  2. {{FishBase. Naucrates. ductor. (2019)
  3. Greenberg, Idaz. (1986). "Guide to Corals & Fishes of Florida, the Bahamas and the Caribbean". Seahawk Press.
  4. McEachran, John D.. (1998). "Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico: Myxiniformes to Gasterosteiformes". University of Texas Press.
  5. Eschmeyer, William N.. (1999). "A Field Guide to Pacific Coast Fishes". Houghton Mifflin Books.
  6. Thompson, William. (1856). "The Natural History of Ireland". Reeve, Benham and Reeve.
  7. Couch, Jonathan. (1863). "A History of the Fishes of the British Islands". Groombridge & Sons.
  8. Yarrell, William. (1841). "A History of British Fishes".
  9. Patterson, Robert. (1849). "First Steps to Zoology". Simms and McIntyre.
  10. Goldsmith, Oliver. (1810). "A History of the Earth and Animated Nature".
  11. Eschmeyer & Herald 1999, p. 208.
  12. Randall, John. (1997). "Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea". University of Hawaii Press.
  13. Eschmeyer & Herald, p. 208.
  14. Goldsmith 1810, p. 159.
  15. (1963). "Sharks and Other Marine Predators". Jacaranda Press.
  16. {{ITIS
  17. Orr 1865, p. 50. "Its flesh is said to be very good."
  18. Yarrell 1841, p. 172. "After this the two [pilot] fish separated; but they were both taken the same evening, and, when dressed the next day, were found to be excellent eating."
  19. (November 1925). "The Sargasso Sea". The Geographical Journal.
  20. Stafford-Deitsch, Jeremy. (2000). "Sharks of Florida, the Bahamas, the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico". Trident Press.
  21. Webster, Stephen. (2003). "Thinking about Biology". Cambridge University Press.
  22. Couch 1863, p. 110–111.
  23. Murray, Hugh. (1832). "Historical and Descriptive Account of British India, from the Most Remote Period to the Present Time". J. & J. Harper.
  24. Schomburgk, Robert Hermann. (1848). "History of Barbados: Comprising a Geographical and Statistical Description of the Island". Psychology Press.
  25. Gudger, E. W.. (March 1929). "Some Instances of Supposed Sympathy Among Fishes". The Scientific Monthly.
  26. (May 23, 1884). "The Deep-Sea Fishes Collected by the Talisman". Science.
  27. (1839). "Pilot Fish".
  28. Stafford-Deitsch 2000, p. 32. "The myth that pilotfishes guide their host to prey is erroneously derived from the fact that pilotfishes [...] often ride the pressure wave immediately in front of the snout of their host."
  29. Andrews, Roy Chapman. (1940). "This Amazing Planet". G.P. Putnam's Sons.
  30. Stedman, John Gabriel. (1813). "Narrative of a Five Years' Expedition against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam in Guiana on the Wild Coast of South America from the Years 1772–1777". University of Massachusetts Press.
  31. Eschmeyer & Herald 2002, p. 209. "The name Pilotfish comes from legendary tales of this species leading lost swimmers, ships, or whales to safety."
  32. Watt, G. D.. (1855). "Journal of Discourses by Brigham Young". F. D. Richards.
  33. [[Athenaeus]], ''[[Deipnosophistae]]'' 283e; [[Claudius Aelianus. Aelian]], ''De Natura Animalium'' 15.23.
  34. [[Athenaeus]], ''Deipnosofistae'' 284a.

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