| Like most animals, sharks have a variety of small friends and enemies which choose to live on or within them. Remoras benefit from sharks because they hitch a ride on them. They stick onto sharks suing suckers on their heads, but they can also swim well on their own, as well as riding bow waves produced by a shark swimming though the water. Other kinds of fish, called pilot fish, also swim with sharks and ride their bow wave. Parasites harm sharks by feeding on their skin, blood, or even inside them. They may cause the shark discomfort, but parasites rarely kill the shark. Some parasites, like tapeworms, have complicated life cycles passing through several different animals before they can infect sharks. |
