What marine animal grows up to 1.8 – 3.3m (5.9- 10.8 ft) and can weigh about 1,000 kg (2,200 lbs) and is not a whale, but a fish? – The answer is an Ocean Sunfish. Also known as Mola Mola, the ocean sunfish is the heaviest known bony fish in the world.
This bizarre looking fish has a huge oval shaped body which resembles a fish head with a tail. It has long dorsal fin and anal fins, often making the fish as tall as it is long. Another unusual feature of this fish is it’s tail that doesn’t look like one at all. It’s tail extends right from it’s dorsal fin to the anal fin and looks like a lumpy pseudo-tail known as the clavus.
Native to temperate and tropical waters, the Mola Mola or ocean sunfish can be found in every ocean in the world, however, can display distinct differences in their appearances from the Atlantic to the Pacific regions. This Pelagic fish can swim to depths of about 600 m (2,000 ft) and prefer warm waters of 10 °C (50 °F). The solitary sunfish, thrives on jellyfish, squid, crustaceans, zooplankton, small fish and plants like eel grass.
As large as this fish is and inspite its thick skin, it is hunted by sea lions, orcas and sharks. It’s seemingly docile towards humans and many divers have enjoyed the company of the Ocean Sunfish while Scuba diving. The fish however is not so loved by boaters as there have been instances of sunfish colliding with boats while surfacing causing significant damage to the boats. Ocean Sunfish can even jump out the water at the surface up to a height 10 feet (3 meters) in the air and land with a splash to shake off parasites that infest their skin. A story of a boy that got knocked off his boat when a sunfish leaped onto it is quite popular among other such incidents.
The meat of Ocean Sunfish is considered a delicacy places like Taiwan and Japan and they are fished for even their fins and internal organs that are used in traditional medicine. The Mola Mola is also threatened by floating litter such as plastic bags which resemble jellyfish, its main diet causing them to choke and suffocate.
Ocean Sunfish can be seen in a few aquariums across the world like- Kaiyukan Aquarium in Osaka, Japan; the Lisbon Oceanarium in Portugal; and the Monterey Bay Aquarium, USA (the fish in this aquarium had to be airlifted out by helicopter and released into the bay after outgrowing its tank.)
This clumsy but fascinating fish as gigantic as it is, still seems like only half a fish instead of a whole making it one bizarre looking fish!
*Photo credits: photos by coda, acme, Cláudio Franco on flickr.
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