OTHER NAMES: Sunfish, Common Mola, Mola, Mola Mola
Latin Etymology: Mola ("millstone") mola ("millstone")
Adult Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola) at Half-Moon Bay Pelagic, California - September 2022
Featured Subspecies: ?
Weight: up to 2300kg / Length: up to 3.3m
UK STATUS NOT EVALUATED/ IUCN Red List: Vulnerable
A bizarre and enormous fish, among bony fish second in size only to one of it's close relatives. Sunfish lack a typical tail instead only have a fleshy "pseudotail" giving them their characteristic disc like appearance. They have numerous other perculiar traits - they lack a swim bladder, have exceptionally fast growth rates, skin that can be p to 7.4cm thick and females are estimated to carry 300 million egs - the most of any vertebrate.
Related Species:
Order: Tetradontiformes
Family: Molidae
Genus: Mola
SUBSPECIES: Unclear
- Sighting Locations -
Widespread in Atlantic and Pacific
- CALIFORNIA 2022 TRIP:Seen on the Half Moon Bay Pelagic Trip
Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto
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