Talk:Pilot fish

Commensal or Mutualistic[edit]

The lead paragraph describes the pilot fish as a "carnivorous commensal fish", but the description section describes at length the mutually beneficial relationships it has with it's "hosts", even specifically saying:

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.

This seems contradictory. The Brittanica online article on commensalism mentions pilot fish, so I'm not sure which way this should go. cat Parade 15:16, 1 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Taxobox Picture[edit]

I feel that a photo of the actual fish would be better in the taxobox than a drawing.SuperPayara123 (talk) 03:32, 12 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Certainly, though, such a photograph should show the/a fish clearly, which is why the current photograph on the page is not used as the taxobox photo.--Mr Fink (talk) 05:16, 12 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Surfboard decals - covert advertisement?[edit]

In reference to this quote: "These observations have led to the pilot fish's distinctive markings being copied for decals supplied as shark protection for surfboards

Is there evidence this actually works? I thought sharks had poor vision, but after a quick Google search I guess they might have better vision than previously thought.

Anyway, if there are no studies showing this works at a shark deterrent, I feel like we probably shouldn't include it here, otherwise it comes across as a advertising for the company described in the source. In fact I'm leaning toward thinking this might be covert advertisement. If it really does work, a real study would be preferable to a news article promoting a specific product Pythagimedes (talk) 19:57, 30 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]