The mature ocean sunfish The ocean sunfish or common mola is one of the heaviest known bony fishes in the world. Adults typically weigh between 247 and 1,000 kg. The species is native to tropical and temperate waters around the globe. It resembles a fish head with a tail, and its main body is flattened laterally. Sunfi…Ocean sunfish
Full Answer
How big can an ocean sunfish be?
The mature ocean sunfish has an average length of 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) and a fin-to-fin length of 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in). The weight of mature specimens can range from 247 to 1,000 kg (545 to 2,205 lb), but even larger individuals are not unheard of.
What is the average lifespan of an ocean sunfish?
The average lifespan of a sunfish is 4 to 6 years. However, some sunfish species, like Bluegill sunfish, live for around ten years. All Centrarchidae species except the genus Micropterus develop an intense coloration between males and females. Males generally have bright, vivid-colored bodies and females have pale-colored bodies.
How fast can a sunfish swim?
How fast can a sunfish swim? 3.2 km/h. How many sunfish are there in the world? Presently, five species are recognized within the family Molidae. Species include: the common mola, Mola mola (Linnaeus 1758); giant ocean sunfish, Mola alexandrini (Ranzani 1839); the hoodwinker sunfish, Mola tecta (Nyegaard et al.
Is the ocean sunfish predator or prey?
The diet of the ocean sunfish was formerly thought to consist primarily of various jellyfish. However, genetic analysis reveals that sunfish are actually generalist predators that consume largely small fish, fish larvae, squid, and crustaceans, with jellyfish and salps making up only around 15% of the diet. Occasionally they will ingest eel grass.
What is the largest sunfish ever caught?
5,070 poundsThe largest sunfish ever recorded, by weight, was 107 inches (2.72 meters) long and weighed 5,070 pounds (2,300 kilograms). This sunfish was caught in 1996 off the coast of Kamogawa, Japan. At first, this enormous sunfish was thought to be a common ocean sunfish (Mola mola).
How rare is an ocean sunfish?
Ocean Sunfish is similar to the sharks you can catch over the summer period, though it's technically a very large bony fish - and arrives at a slightly later time of the year. They are about as rare as sharks in the game, so it's just a case of catching anything with a fin until it's added to your Critterpedia.
How old do ocean sunfish get?
Ocean sunfish may live up to ten years in captivity, but their lifespan in a natural habitat has not yet been determined.
How big is the biggest sunfish?
Size and Weight The mola are the heaviest of all the bony fish, with large specimens reaching 14 feet vertically and 10 feet horizontally and weighing nearly 5,000 pounds.
How much is an ocean sunfish worth?
4,000 Bells4,000 Bells (6,000 Bells if sold to C.J.)
Do ocean sunfish taste good?
Sunfish have a light flavor similar to that of herring or sardines. It can be eaten raw or cooked, but it must be very fresh because it spoils quickly after being caught.
Do ocean sunfish bite humans?
Despite the size, they are considered to be fairly docile and gentle around human divers. Almost all recorded injuries have been the result of accidents. This article will cover some interesting facts about the habitat, diet, and adaptations of the Ocean Sunfish.
Can sunfish bite you?
Superficially, they resemble a bluegill. However, if a sizable population of green sunfish becomes established in your pond, you can usually expect small fish size and very aggressive fish that bite swimmers.
Are sunfish harmful?
Yes. Dangerous? No. Despite their size, sunfish don't pose a threat to humans, although given the jaw muscles and teeth fused into something like an industrial bolt cutter, you don't want to go putting your fingers anywhere near the mouth.
Has anyone caught an ocean sunfish?
Fishers recently hauled up a surprising catch off the coast of North Africa: a colossal ocean sunfish weighing an incredible 4,400 pounds (2,000 kilograms).
What is the biggest fish in the ocean?
whale sharksThe biggest fish in the ocean is the Rhincodon typus or whale shark. Despite their tremendous size and intimidating appearance, whale sharks are commonly docile and approachable. Please keep your distance, giving them the respect and space they deserve.
What eats ocean sunfish?
Adults are too large to be threatened by any but the absolute largest potential predators, but medium-sized individuals are eaten by sea lions, killer whales, and large sharks. California sea lions are known to bite the fins off of small ocean sunfish and then play with them like frisbees.
How many ocean sunfish are there?
mola, also called ocean sunfish or headfish, any of six species of oceanic fishes of the family Molidae. Molas have a distinctive bullet-shaped appearance, with a short body that ends abruptly in a thick rudderlike structure called a clavus just behind the tall triangular dorsal and anal fins.
Is the ocean sunfish endangered?
Conservation Status The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed the ocean sunfish as "Vulnerable." Currently, sunfish are not targeted for human consumption, but they are endangered by bycatch.
Is the sunfish endangered?
Not extinctSunfish / Extinction status
Where are ocean sunfish found?
Ocean sunfish are found in near-shore oceans all over the globe. On the east coast of North America they range as far north as Newfoundland, however they are more common closer to the equator in waters warmer than 54° F.
How big is the Sunfish?
The largest sunfish weighed in at 2,300 kilograms and extended over ten feet in length! Not bad for a fish that, as a baby, begins life measuring just four millimeters across. The ocean sunfish's immense size has earned it the title of "world's largest bony fish.".
How much does a sunfish weigh?
Yet it is on this slimy diet that sunfish can attain weights of over 1,000 kilograms and lengths of nearly six feet. The largest sunfish weighed in at 2,300 kilograms and extended over ten feet in length!
What is the name of the ocean sunfish?
The ocean sunfish (Mola mola) has a radiant name, but its appearance doesn't exactly match its glowing moniker. Wrinkled and colored a sickly shade of gray, the sunfish doesn't exactly shimmer. However, its pallor isn't nearly as distracting as its awkward shape -- the fish is usually taller than it is long.
Sunfish Size – How Big is the Biggest Sunfish?
Sunfish size can be enormous. The average length of mature sea sunfish is 1.8 m (5.9 ft) and a fin-to-fin length is 2.5 m (8.2 ft). Mature samples can weigh from 247 to one thousand kilograms (545 to 2,205 lbs), but larger ones are also unheard of. Assembling a huge floating blob, the world’s largest bone marine fish or sea molafish.
Other Recommended Article
Common Names: Ocean sunfish (mola), about 6 feet in size. Growth of captive sea sunfish, Molla mola sisan joshoku 55: 403-407. Mola is called sea sunfish or headfish, six species of marine fish in the Molidae family. The bullet-shaped molar has a distinct appearance.
How big can sunfish get?
The sunfish, can grow as big as a pickup truck ... and can carry up to 40 kinds of parasites. That's great news for cleaner fish and seagulls, who pick the parasites off the sunfish at a nearby kelp spa.
How far can sunfish get in the air?
They will even breach the surface up to 10 feet in the air and land with a splash in an attempt to shake the parasites.
What is the largest bony fish?
Resembling a big floating blob, the ocean sunfish, or mola, is the world's largest bony fish. Photograph by Hiroya Minakuchi, Minden Pictures/Nat Geo Image Collection. Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.
Why do sunfish have bullets?
Sunfish, or mola, develop their truncated, bullet-like shape because the back fin which they are born with simply never grows. Instead, it folds into itself as the enormous creature matures, creating a rounded rudder called a clavus. Mola in Latin means "millstone" and describes the ocean sunfish’s somewhat circular shape.
How big is a mola?
The mola are the heaviest of all the bony fish, with large specimens reaching 14 feet vertically and 10 feet horizontally and weighing nearly 5,000 pounds. Sharks and rays can be heavier, but they're cartilaginous fish.
Do sunfish suffocate?
Their population is considered vulnerable. Sunfish frequently get snagged in drift gill nets and can suffocate on sea trash, like plastic bags, which resemble jellyfish.
How much does a sunfish grow?
The most phenomenal attribute is its growth rate…. It’s the heaviest bony fish in the world! A common sunfish can grow to more than 60 million times its birth size. Growth rates of young fish in captivity have been recorded at an average of 55 pounds per month.
What is the ocean sunfish?
Introducing The Ocean Sunfish. As gentle as a teddy bear but weighs more than a small truck – it could sink your sailing boat or disable an oil tanker. It basks in the sun, lazing about the ocean surface with no care in the world like it’s on a forever holiday.
How deep do sunfish swim?
Despite its ungainly design, the sunfish does quite a bit of swimming up and down the water column…. The common range covers the ocean surface to a depth of 650 feet. However, tagged fish have been recorded as deep as 3,280 feet – well over half a mile. Mola Mola at the Surface of Water.
What does the Polynesians believe about sunfish?
The Polynesians believe the slender sunfish is the king of all mackerel, and that killing a slender sunfish will bring terrible bad luck!
Why do sunfish bask in the sun?
the sunfish would bask in the sun to regulate their temperature… . Science generally agreed that the sunfish would bask in the sun by swimming near the surface to regulate their temperature. Following dives to the darker, colder depths, it would return to the surface and use the sun to warm up again.
How did the Sunfish get its name?
It gets this name from its regular trips to the ocean surface where it appears to sunbathe, lazily soaking up the sun. This is where most people will get to spot the sunfish without diving.
How big is a Mola?
Up to 5 000 pounds! This might be an exception, but the average weight of a mature mola is still big, ranging between 500 to 2 000 pounds… . At 10.8 feet long and 14 feet across, you’re not going to fit the biggest of the species in your home aquarium….