Echeneis
An echeneis is a legendary creature; a small fish that was said to latch on to ships, holding them back.
Pliny the Elder (1st century AD) also said of the echeneis: "It has a disgraceful repute, as being employed in love philtres, and for the purpose of retarding judgments and legal proceedings—evil properties, which are only compensated by a single merit that it possesses—it is good for staying fluxes of the womb in pregnant women, and preserves the fœtus up to birth: it is never used, however, for food."[1] They were said to be found in the Indian Ocean.[2][3] Isidore of Seville (7th century AD) and Bartholomaeus Anglicus (13th century) are among later authors of bestiaries that mention the echeneis.[2]
It is thought that these ancient descriptions refer to the remora.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Pliny Natural History 9.41
- ^ a b Echeneis at the Medieval Bestiary. Accessed 28 February 2016
- ^ Gudger, E. W. (1918). "The myth of the ship-holder: studies in Echeneis or Remora". The Annals and Magazine of Natural History: Including Zoology, Botany, and Geology.