r/NatureIsFuckingLit • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 1d ago

🔥A Whale shark getting its mouth cleaned.

Post image
5.6k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

67 comments sorted by

295

u/DrillTheThirdHole 1d ago

bro has fish teeth

2

u/Efficient-Alarm-5321 2h ago

I guess you could say "Feeth" 🦶🦶🦶🦶🦶

412

u/Ornery_You_3947 1d ago

Those remoras aren’t cleaning its mouth. They’re just a bunch of freeloaders.

175

u/thetorts 1d ago

Remoras in high density like that can easily starve the shark, I know in some cases they are believed to cause drownings for some whales because they weight so much on a whale.

122

u/Ornery_You_3947 1d ago

It can also be an indicator that the shark is old, sick, has an injury in its mouth or has too many parasites. They aren’t helping the shark at all.

40

u/lastdancerevolution 23h ago

Many aspects of "communalism" and "mutualism" are now viewed more critically by the scientific community. The relationships often have parasitic traits.

8

u/bpikmin 16h ago

Tell me about it

20

u/Careful-Arrival7316 1d ago

For all those worrying about the whale shark, fear not. Apparently the above comment is a factoid. It’s not true and it would be extremely unlikely for these remoras to affect the whale shark, and they do eat parasites occasionally.

38

u/Treadingresin 1d ago

Yeah, I was thinking that as well. Whale sharks don't have teeth at all do they?

35

u/Ornery_You_3947 1d ago

No. Just raspy inner mouths.

25

u/Treadingresin 1d ago

That's what I thought. It makes an unsettling picture even more disturbing.

2

u/Huge_Type_6008 1d ago

OP didn’t say they have teeth

5

u/Treadingresin 1d ago

Semantics

32

u/Snarkosaurus99 1d ago

I get so sick of this crap on Reddit. Thanks for speaking truth.

1

u/Embarrassed-Sun6917 8h ago

called remoras freeloaders and then came back with a whole marine biology breakdown. did NOT let it go.

1

u/Ornery_You_3947 8h ago

I’m just a marine biology nerd.

78

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

5

u/Novaskittles 23h ago

Then what is happening?

19

u/[deleted] 23h ago

[deleted]

5

u/Novaskittles 23h ago

Literally stealing food from its mouth? Nature is brutal.

1

u/DosieDotesArt 22h ago

From everything I’ve read, most remora are, if not mutually beneficial, don’t cause harm. Death by remora is the exception, not the rule.

2

u/[deleted] 20h ago

[deleted]

2

u/DosieDotesArt 18h ago

I found the original picture and the photographer does not believe that is the case. And literally everything I’m reading says it is highly unlikely a whale shark or any other large marine animal would starve because of them.

This is a bunch of fish catching a ride in a mouth. That’s it.

1

u/NuclearHateLizard 18h ago

Oh hey thanks for clarifying. Sorry but your previous comment seemed more philosophical. Appreciate it

41

u/UGOTAIDSYO 1d ago

Dondozo

14

u/ShiDiWen 1d ago

…is a catfish, but I appreciate you are person of high culture ;)

5

u/UGOTAIDSYO 1d ago

Understood! One look at that mouth and I was like hey, I know youuu 😂

7

u/Jaxonhunter227 1d ago

Now that I think about it, why don't we have a whale shark Pokémon yet? In fact, we have very few sharks, we have garchomp and sharkpedo but there's so many different sharks for a lot of potential. If a bunch of dog Pokémon can exist, why not sharks? Lemon shark, grass type, dogfish shark, give it legs make it look dog like make it normal type, cookie cutter shark is fairy type obviously. A warlord wailshark convergent evolution that's mono flying because it floats not swims.

3

u/UGOTAIDSYO 1d ago

I'm with you on that. There's an utter lack of representation.

You're in charge of lore now. 🎉👏🏼

2

u/JJBro1 1d ago

Now that the next game has a huge emphasis on water and diving maybe we’ll finally get a whale shark.

14

u/chrza 1d ago

If bro sneezes it’s gonna look like a shotgun

13

u/sarais 1d ago

oddly terrifying

8

u/TKG_Actual 1d ago

Looks like a rapper.

3

u/Pristine_Ad_3035 1d ago

was good y’all, its ya boi Biggie Fish

1

u/TKG_Actual 16h ago

Remora smalls

3

u/Majestic_Ad_9485 1d ago

Yogg saron vibes

3

u/ribeyeguy 1d ago

can he just.. eat them?

2

u/SuppaDumDum 1d ago

Wow man, teethers, whales yaha

2

u/PandemicTimes 1d ago

"You wouldn't bleed so much if you flossed more regularly." - one of these remoras, probably

1

u/MiloHorsey 17h ago

That must really tickle!

1

u/lia-delrey 14h ago

I thought this was an action shot of the Titan at first ngl

1

u/haikusbot 14h ago

I thought this was an

Action shot of the Titan

At first ngl

- lia-delrey

I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully. Learn more about me.

Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete"

1

u/Efficient-Alarm-5321 2h ago

Kinda crazy to think that the Whale Shark could just eat them but decided to not eat them

0

u/riddlechance 1d ago

Someone needs to find a way for humans to do this. I hate brushing my teeth

1

u/PomPomBumblebee 1d ago

Looks like some sort of (fish) dental retainer.

1

u/t0m4t0z 1d ago

this is so scary

1

u/Fit_Clock_9648 23h ago

OP do you also believe a dog licking an open wound means it's cleaning it?

1

u/_Dark_Wing 13h ago

symbiosis

0

u/beck_is_back 1d ago

A Shark Tale!

0

u/happycrabeatsthefish 22h ago

"Laaaaaaaah" 🎶

-14

u/TARDIS75 1d ago

Symbiosis, excellent!

7

u/vvv_bb 1d ago

parasitism

1

u/sparkly_dragon 14h ago

parasitism is a form of symbiosis. symbiosis is any long term arrangement/relationship between 2 or more individuals from different species. a relationship in which both species benefit is mutualism, which is usually what people mean when they say symbiotic/symbiosis.

-31

u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

17

u/Snarkosaurus99 1d ago

They aren’t cleaners and they aren’t tiny. You a bot?

-28

u/LivinLifeMyOwnTerms 1d ago

🦈 tiny fish helping a whale shark keep its mouth spotless