Fish of the Naucrates genus of the subfamily Naucratinae of the Carangidae family of the superfamily Percoidea of the Perciformes order of the Acanthopterygii superorder.
(Pilotfish. Photo by © Raju Saravanan. fishbase.org)
Pilotfish (Naucrates ductor) was first described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778).
It inhabits the depths of up to 300 meters. The maximum recorded length is 70 cm, specimens up to 40 cm long are more common. It accompanies sharks, rays and other large fish. It feeds on the remains of their food, as well as small fish and invertebrates.
(Pilotfish. Photo by © Muhammad Moazzam Khan. fishbase.org)
It is a permanent infrequent inhabitant of the Adriatic Sea.
Names of pilotfish (Naucrates ductor) in other languages as follows:
Peshku pilot (Albanian), Риба лоцман (Riba locman) (Bulgarian), Kalauzhal (Hungarian), Loodsmannetje (Dutch), Πιλότος (Pilotos) (Greek), Navat (Hebrew), Pez piloto (Spanish), Pesce pilota (Italian), Pilotfisch (German), Pilot, Przynawek retman (Polish), Peixe-piloto (Portuguese), Pește pilot (Romanian), Лоцман, Рыба–лоцман (Locman, Ryba–locman) (ruski), Skušac pratibrod, Fanfan (Serbian, Croatian), Pilot (Slovenian), Malta palamudu (Turkish), Poisson pilote (French), Lodivod mořský (Czech).