pilotfish

[ pahy-luh t-fish ]

/ ˈpaɪ lətˌfɪʃ /

a small, marine fish, Naucrates ductor, often swimming with sharks.

any of various other fishes having similar habits.

Nearby words

First recorded in 1625–35; pilot + fish

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

There are other curious things about these pilot-fish that naturalists cannot explain.
Harper's Round Table, October 29, 1895|Various
He was made to stick to the skipper as though he were of some use—as the pilot-fish, they say, is to the whale.
End of the Tether|Joseph Conrad
The law which doomed him to be the humble attendant of stronger spirits resembled the law which binds the pilot-fish to the shark.
Critical and Historical Essays, Volume III (of 3)|Thomas Babington Macaulay
One paper likened him to the pilot-fish, which guides the shark to his prey.
Andersonville, Volume 2|John McElroy

Still, you know Moggridge has taken care that the bait carefully conceals the snare within, and the pilot-fish are none the wiser.
The White Squall|John Conroy Hutcheson

1630s, from pilot (n.) + fish (n.). So called because they were thought to lead sharks to prey.