Echeneis
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An echeneis (Ancient Greek: ἐχενηΐς)[1] is a legendary creature. It is a described as a small fish that was said to latch on to ships, holding them back.
Mythology
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."[2] In his Quaestiones Convivales, Plutarch gives a detailed description of the creature.[3]
They were said to be found in the Indian Ocean.[4][5]
Isidore of Seville (7th century AD) and Bartholomaeus Anglicus (13th century) are among later authors of bestiaries that mention the echeneis.[4]
It is thought that these ancient descriptions refer to the remora.