Ocean Sunfish or Mola | Definition, Classification, & Facts
Sunfish is famous for being the largest bony fish in the world. Its scientific name is mola mola and it is commonly known as mola fish.
How big is the Ocean sunfish?
The average weight of Sunfish is 2,200 pounds. However, some have reached sizes as large as 5,000 pounds. It is a relatively flat and round fish that can grow up to 10 feet long and 14 feet from top to bottom through the fins. It has rather small fins on the sides (pectoral fins), but large fins above and below. They swim slow and heavy, but they know how to swim.
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Sunfish have rough, gray skin that can be infected with a variety of parasites. They use other fish and even birds to eat the parasites and clean them from their skin.
Where does Ocean sunfish live?
Sunfish live in warmer ocean waters around the world. They usually swim in open water, but sometimes come to the surface, lying on their side to bask in the sun. Maybe it will warm up so they can dive deep into the ocean again.
Females can lay up to 300 eggs at a time. When the juveniles hatch, they are called juveniles. The fry have sharp spines to help protect them, which disappear when they reach their normal size. The fry go to school in groups, possibly for protection, but the adults are more solitary.
What does Ocean sunfish eat?
Sunfish love to eat jellyfish, but they also eat other small fish, zooplankton, squid, small crustaceans, and algae. They need to eat a lot of food to get this big, which is odd since they have relatively small mouths for their size. They have fixed teeth in their mouths that they can use to break down harder foods.
Interesting facts about the Ocean Sunfish
The name mola comes from the Latin word for mill. The fish can look like a millstone with a rounded shape, rough skin and gray color.
Due to their huge size, they can cause serious damage to boats that hit them in the ocean.
The main adult predators are sharks, killer whales, and sea lions.
Despite their enormous size, they can jump out of the water and in rare cases they can jump onto boats.
Humans eat them for food and they are considered a delicacy in some parts of the world.
Sunfish are bred in captivity, but their size causes a bit of a problem. The only aquarium with a sunfish exhibit in the United States at the time of this writing is the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California.