:Ocean sunfish

File:Mola mola2.jpg. It has a flattened body and is as tall as it is long.]]

Its common English name, sunfish, refers to the animal's habit of sunbathing at the surface of the sea.{{citation needed |date=May 2024 |reason=Who frm where named it "sunfish"? When its nm was 1st written?}} Its common names in Dutch, Portuguese, French, Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Russian, Greek, Hungarian, Norwegian, and German (maanvis, peixe lua, Poisson lune, pez luna, peix lluna, Pesce luna, рыба-луна, φεγγαρόψαρο, holdhal, månefisk and Mondfisch, respectively) mean "moon fish", in reference to its rounded shape. In German, the fish is also known as Schwimmender Kopf, or "swimming head". In Polish, it is named samogłów, meaning "head alone" or "only head", because it has no true tail. In Swedish and Danish it is known as klumpfisk, in Dutch klompvis, in Finnish möhkäkala, all of which mean "lump fish". The Chinese translation of its academic name is {{Lang-zh|c=翻車魚|labels=no|p=fān chē yú}}, meaning "toppled wheel fish". Many of the sunfish's various names allude to its flattened shape.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

French polymath Guillaume Rondelet wrote about the ocean sunfish in his 1554 work de Piscibus, using the term Orthagoriscus,{{cite book |last1=Rondelet |first1=Guillaume |title=Libri de piscibus marinis in quibus verae piscium effigies expressae sunt |date=1554 |publisher=Mathias Bonhomme |location=Lyon |page=424 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/41732963}} "sucking pig" for the likeness of its body and mouth.{{cite journal | title=The Rarest of the Ocean Sunfishes |journal =The Scientific Monthly | first1=Eugene W. | last1=Gudger | first2= Samuel M. | last2=MacDonald | volume= 41| issue= 5 | date= November 1935| pages= 396–408 | jstor=16070|bibcode =1935SciMo..41..396G }} It was originally classified in the pufferfish family as Tetraodon mola,{{cite journal |last= Parenti |first= Paolo |date= September 2003 |title= Family Molidae Bonaparte 1832: molas or ocean sunfish |journal= Annotated Checklist of Fishes (Electronic Journal) |volume= 18 |issn= 1545-150X |url= http://research.calacademy.org/sites/research.calacademy.org/files/Departments/ichthyology/Molidae.pdf |access-date= 6 February 2012 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131004225504/http://research.calacademy.org/sites/research.calacademy.org/files/Departments/ichthyology/Molidae.pdf |archive-date= 4 October 2013

}} its epithet mola is Latin for "millstone",{{cite dictionary |url= https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dmola |title= mola |last1= Lewis |first1= Charlton T. |last2= Short |first2= Charles |dictionary= A Latin Dictionary |edition= |publisher= Perseus Digital Library |date = 1879 }} which the fish resembles because of its gray color, rough texture, and rounded body. It is now placed in its own genus Mola and family name Molidae{{cite web |url=https://etyfish.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/ETYFish_Tetraodontiformes2.pdf |title=Family TETRADONTIFORMES |last1=Scharpf |first1=Christopher |last2=Lazara |first2= Kenneth J. |website=The ETYFish Project |date=12 June 2023 |access-date=25 October 2023 }} as the type species with two other species: Mola tecta and M. alexandrini (previously known as Mola ramsayi). Extinct relatives of Mola mola lived in the Oligocene and Miocene epochs.{{cite web|title = Evolution | url = https://oceansunfish.org/evolution/| access-date = 10 June 2024}} However, the earliest known fossil remains of Mola mola itself were found in archaeological middens dating to the Holocene epoch.

The common name "sunfish" without qualifier is used to describe the marine family Molidae and the freshwater sunfish in the family Centrarchidae, which is unrelated to Molidae. On the other hand, the name "ocean sunfish" and "mola" refer only to the family Molidae.

File:Molalavdj.jpg, which still possesses spines that will later disappear]]

File:Mola mola-Skelett, Naturhistorisches Museum Wien.jpg

It shares many traits common to members in the order Tetraodontiformes including pufferfish, porcupinefish, and filefish like having a beak formed from four fused teeth; sunfish fry resemble spiky pufferfish more than they resemble adult molas.{{cite web |url=http://OceanSunfish.org/evolution.html

|title=Molidae information and research (Evolution) |first=Tierney |last=Thys |date=2002 |publisher=OceanSunfish.org |access-date=26 June 2007}}

The caudal fin of the ocean sunfish is replaced by a rounded clavus, creating the body's distinct truncated shape. The body is flattened laterally, giving it a long oval shape when seen head-on. The pectoral fins are small and fan-shaped, while the dorsal fin and the anal fin are lengthened, often making the fish as tall as it is long. Specimens up to {{convert|3.3|m|ftin|abbr=on}} in height have been recorded.

The mature ocean sunfish has an average length of {{convert|1.8|m|ftin|abbr=on}} and a fin-to-fin length of {{convert|2.5|m|ftin|abbr=on}}. The weight of mature specimens can range from {{convert|247|to|1000|kg|lb|abbr=on}},{{cite web

|url=http://www.oceansunfish.org/lifehistory.html

|title=Molidae Descriptions and Life History

|first=Tierney

|last=Thys

|publisher=OceanSunfish.org

|access-date=2007-05-08}}{{cite journal | last1=Watanabe | first1=Yuuki | last2=Sato | first2=Katsufumi | title=Functional Dorsoventral Symmetry in Relation to Lift-Based Swimming in the Ocean Sunfish Mola mola | journal=PLOS ONE | volume=3 | issue=10 | date=2008-10-22| doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0003446 | page=e3446| pmid=18941510 | pmc=2562982 | bibcode=2008PLoSO...3.3446W | doi-access=free }}{{citation | author1=Nakatsubo, Toshiyuki |author2=Kawachi, Masahiro |author3=Mano, Nobuhiro |author4=Hirose, Hitomi | title=Estimation of Maturation in Wild and Captive Ocean Sunfish Mola mola |journal=水産増殖 |year=2007 | volume=55 | issue=2 | issn=0371-4217 | doi=10.11233/aquaculturesci1953.55.259 | language=ja | pages=259–264}} but even larger individuals are not unheard of. The maximum size recorded is {{Convert|3.3|m|ftin|abbr=on}} in length,{{cite web

|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/tropical-sunfish-visitor-as-big-as-a-car/AOZWV5BKNQ2J32QUHWUXB6T2EE/

|title=Tropical sunfish visitor as big as a car

|date=November 24, 2006

|author=Juliet Rowan

|publisher=The New Zealand Herald

|access-date=9 May 2023}}{{Cite journal|last1=McClain|first1=Craig R.|last2=Balk|first2=Meghan A.|last3=Benfield|first3=Mark C.|last4=Branch|first4=Trevor A.|last5=Chen|first5=Catherine|last6=Cosgrove|first6=James|last7=Dove|first7=Alistair D.M.|last8=Gaskins|first8=Lindsay C.|last9=Helm|first9=Rebecca R.|date=2015-01-13|title=Sizing ocean giants: patterns of intraspecific size variation in marine megafauna|journal=PeerJ|language=en|volume=3|pages=e715|doi=10.7717/peerj.715|issn=2167-8359|pmc=4304853|pmid=25649000 |doi-access=free }} and maximum weight recorded is {{Convert|2300|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.

The spinal column of M. mola contains fewer vertebrae and is shorter in relation to the body than that of any other fish.{{cite web

|url=http://www.tunalab.unh.edu/molalifehistory.htm

|title=Mola mola program - Life History

|publisher=Large Pelagics Research Lab

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110819181804/http://www.tunalab.unh.edu/molalifehistory.htm

|archive-date=2011-08-19}}

Although the sunfish descended from bony ancestors, its skeleton contains largely cartilaginous tissues, which are lighter than bone, allowing it to grow to sizes impractical for other bony fishes.{{cite web

|url=http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/0307/0307_biomechanics.html

|title=No Bones About 'Em

|publisher=Natural History Magazine

|author=Adam Summers

|access-date=2007-06-30

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927174327/http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/0307/0307_biomechanics.html

|archive-date=September 27, 2007}} Its teeth are fused into a beak-like structure,{{Cite journal|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jfb.15244|title=The heaviest bony fish in the world: a 2744 kg giant sunfish Mola alexandrini (Ranzani, 1839) from the North Atlantic|first1=José Nuno|last1=Gomes-Pereira|first2=Christopher K.|last2=Pham|first3=Joana|last3=Miodonski|first4=Marco A. R.|last4=Santos|first5=Gisela|last5=Dionísio|first6=Diana|last6=Catarino|first7=Marianne|last7=Nyegaard|first8=Etsuro|last8=Sawai|first9=Gilberto P.|last9=Carreira|first10=Pedro|last10=Afonso|date=October 11, 2022|journal=Journal of Fish Biology|volume=102 |issue=1 |pages=290–293|doi=10.1111/jfb.15244|pmid=36218082 |s2cid=252816489 }} which prevents them from being able to fully close their mouths, while also having pharyngeal teeth located in the throat.{{cite book|author1=Bone, Quentin |author2=Moore, Richard |year=2008|title=Biology of Fishes|url=https://archive.org/details/biologyfisheseng00bone |url-access=limited |publisher=Taylor & Francis US|page=[https://archive.org/details/biologyfisheseng00bone/page/n228 210]|isbn=978-0203885222}}

The axial musculature is completely lost during development. In addition they are missing a swim bladder. Instead they get their buoyancy from a stiff and gelatinous layer under the skin, which consist of about 90% water and a meshwork of collagen and elastin, acting like an exoskeleton. Due to its greasy texture, it may also contain lipids. The layer, which is horizontally separated by a septum, makes up a larger part of the animal's total mass the bigger the individual is.{{Cite journal|title=The locomotor system of the ocean sunfish Mola mola (L.): role of gelatinous exoskeleton, horizontal septum, muscles and tendons|first1=John|last1=Davenport|first2=Natasha D.|last2=Phillips|first3=Elizabeth|last3=Cotter|first4=Lawrence E.|last4=Eagling|first5=Jonathan D. R.|last5=Houghton|date=June 21, 2018|journal=Journal of Anatomy|volume=233|issue=3|pages=347–357|doi=10.1111/joa.12842|pmid=29926911|pmc=6081505}} Some sources{{who|there's only one reference, which suggests one source, not multiple. If the source is know, it can be specified in the text rather than keeping it vague like this. Source is behind paywall, so I cannot confirm|date=May 2024}} indicate the internal organs contain a concentrated neurotoxin, tetrodotoxin, like the organs of other poisonous tetraodontiformes, while others dispute this claim.

In the course of its evolution, the caudal fin (tail) of the sunfish disappeared, to be replaced by a lumpy pseudotail, the clavus. This structure is formed by the convergence of the dorsal and anal fins,{{cite web|url=http://www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/news/2006/feb/news_7758.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121223084435/http://www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/news/2006/feb/news_7758.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 23, 2012|title=Strange tail of the sunfish|publisher=The Natural History Museum|access-date=2007-05-11}}{{cite journal|last1=Johnson|first1=G. David|last2=Britz|first2=Ralf|date=October 2005|title=Leis' Conundrum: Homology of the Clavus of the Ocean Sunfishes. 2. Ontogeny of the Median Fins and Axial Skeleton of Ranzania laevis (Teleostei, Tetraodontiformes, Molidae)|journal=Journal of Morphology|volume=266|issue=1|pages=11–21|quote=We thus conclude that the molid clavus is unequivocally formed by modified elements of the dorsal and anal fin and that the caudal fin is lost in molids.|doi=10.1002/jmor.10242|pmid=15549687|s2cid=43363353}} and is used by the fish as a rudder.{{cite web|title=Meet the ocean sunfish (Mola mola)|work=Monterey Bay Aquarium|series=Animals A to Z|url=https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/animals-a-to-z/ocean-sunfish|url-status=live|access-date=5 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240905214912/https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/animals-a-to-z/ocean-sunfish|archive-date=5 September 2024}} The smooth-denticled clavus retains 11–14 fin rays and terminates in a number of rounded ossicles.{{cite web|last1=Parkinson|first1=Kerryn|title=Ocean Sunfish, Mola mola (Linnaeus, 1758)|date=12 August 2023|orig-date=6 April 2011|work=Australian Museum|url=https://australian.museum/learn/animals/fishes/ocean-sunfish-mola-mola/|url-status=live|access-date=5 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240905221436/https://australian.museum/learn/animals/fishes/ocean-sunfish-mola-mola/|archive-date=5 September 2024}}

Ocean sunfish often swim near the surface, and their protruding dorsal fins are sometimes mistaken for those of sharks. However, the two can be distinguished by the motion of the fin. Unlike most fish, the sunfish swings its dorsal fin and anal fin in a characteristic sculling motion.

Adult sunfish range from brown to silvery-grey or white, with a variety of region-specific mottled skin patterns. Coloration is often darker on the dorsal surface, fading to a lighter shade ventrally as a form of countershading camouflage. M. mola also exhibits the ability to vary skin coloration from light to dark, especially when under attack. The skin, which contains large amounts of reticulated collagen, can be up to {{convert|7.3|cm|in|frac=4|abbr=on}} thick on the ventral surface, and is covered by denticles and a layer of mucus instead of scales. The skin on the clavus is smoother than that on the body, where it can be as rough as sandpaper.

More than 40 species of parasites may reside on the skin and internally, motivating the fish to seek relief in a number of ways.{{clarify|what ways|date=May 2024}} One of the most frequent ocean sunfish parasites is the flatworm Accacoelium contortum.{{Cite journal|title = Accacoelium contortum (Trematoda: Accacoeliidae) a trematode living as a monogenean: morphological and pathological implications|journal = Parasites & Vectors|date = 15 October 2015|issn = 1756-3305|pmc = 4608113|pmid = 26471059|volume = 8|pages = 540|doi = 10.1186/s13071-015-1162-1|first1 = Ana Elena|last1 = Ahuir-Baraja|first2 = Francesc|last2 = Padrós|first3 = Jose Francisco|last3 = Palacios-Abella|first4 = Juan Antonio|last4 = Raga|first5 = Francisco Esteban|last5 = Montero | doi-access=free }}

In temperate regions, drifting kelp fields harbor cleaner wrasses and other fish which remove parasites from the skin of visiting sunfish. In the tropics, M. mola solicits cleaning help from reef fishes. By basking on its side at the surface, the sunfish also allows seabirds to feed on parasites from its skin. Sunfish have been reported to breach, clearing the surface by approximately {{convert|3|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}, in an apparent effort to dislodge embedded parasites.{{cite web

|url=http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/mola.html

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061114004414/http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/mola.html

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=November 14, 2006

|title=Mola (Sunfish)

|publisher=National Geographic

|access-date=2007-05-08}}{{cite web

|url=http://oceansunfish.org/sightings07.html

|title=Help Unravel the Mystery of the Ocean Sunfish

|first=Tierney

|last=Thys

|publisher=OceanSunfish.org

|year=2007

|access-date=2013-05-17}}

File:GFNMS -- Mola Mola (35221024103).jpg

Ocean sunfish are native to the temperate and tropical waters of every ocean in the world. Mola genotypes appear to vary widely between the Atlantic and Pacific, but genetic differences between individuals in the Northern and Southern hemispheres are minimal.

Although early research suggested sunfish moved around mainly by drifting with ocean currents (which has resulted in the sunfish sometimes being characterized as a megaplankton{{cite book|last=Coulombe|first=Deborah A.|date=1992|title=The Seaside Naturalist: A Guide to Study at the Seashore|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VOoqKMdI0ekC&pg=PA236|publisher=Fireside Books|page=236|isbn=0-671-76503-5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.rsb.org.uk/biologist-book-reviews/planktonia-the-nightly-migration-of-the-ocean-s-smallest-creatures|title=Book Reviews {{!}} Planktonia: The nightly migration of the ocean's smallest creatures|last=Ireland|first=Tom|website=The Biologist|publisher=Royal Society of Biology|access-date=January 15, 2024}}), individuals have been recorded swimming {{convert|26|km|abbr=on}} in a day at a cruising speed of {{convert|3.2|km/h|kn|1|abbr=on}}.

They are also capable of moving rapidly when feeding or avoiding predators, to the extent that they can vertically leap out of water. Contrary to the perception that the fish spend much of their time basking at the surface, M. mola adults actually spend a large portion of their lives actively hunting at depths greater than {{convert|200|m|abbr=on}}, occupying both the epipelagic and mesopelagic zones.{{cite web

|url=http://www.tunalab.unh.edu/molaresearchresults.htm

|title=Mola mola program - Preliminary results

|date=January 2006

|publisher=Large Pelagics Research Lab

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720094050/http://www.tunalab.unh.edu/molaresearchresults.htm

|archive-date=2011-07-20}} Sunfish are most often found in water warmer than {{Convert|10|C}}; prolonged periods spent in water at temperatures of {{Convert|12|C}} or lower can lead to disorientation and eventual death. Surface basking behavior, in which a sunfish swims on its side, presenting its largest profile to the sun, may be a method of "thermally recharging" following dives into deeper, colder water in order to feed.

{{cite web

|url=http://www.oceansunfish.org/MontereySanctuaryv11.html

|title=Tracking Ocean Sunfish, Mola mola with Pop-Up Satellite Archival Tags in California Waters

|first=Tierney

|last=Thys

|date=30 November 2003

|publisher=OceanSunfish.org

|access-date=2007-06-14}}

{{cite web

|url=http://online.sfsu.edu/bholzman/courses/Fall00Projects/Mola.html

|title= The Biogeography of Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola)

|date=Fall 2000

|publisher= San Francisco State University Department of Geography |access-date=2008-04-25}} Sightings of the fish in colder waters outside of its usual habitat, such as those southwest of England, may be evidence of increasing marine temperatures.{{cite web

| first = Mark

| last = Oliver

| author2 = agencies

| name-list-style = amp

| title = Warm Cornish waters attract new marine life

| url = https://www.theguardian.com/conservation/story/0,,1828580,00.html

| date = 25 July 2006

| publisher = Guardian.co.uk

| access-date = 2007-05-08}}

Sunfish are typically observed in solitary environments, though infrequently they may be encountered in pairs.

The diet of the ocean sunfish was formerly thought to consist primarily of various jellyfish and other gelatinous zooplankton, such as ctenophores, salps, and medusae.{{cite web | url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Mola_mola/ | title=ADW: Mola mola: INFORMATION | website=Animal Diversity Web }} However, genetic analysis reveals that sunfish are actually generalist predators that consume mostly small fish (such as flounder), fish (eel) larvae, squid, other molluscs, crustaceans, and other soft-bodied invertebrates, with jellyfish and salps making up only around 15% of the diet. Occasionally they will ingest eel grass. This range of food items indicates that the sunfish feeds at many levels, from the surface to deep water, and occasionally down to the seafloor in some areas.

Ocean sunfish may live up to ten years in captivity, but their lifespan in a natural habitat has not yet been determined. Their growth rate remains undetermined. However, a young specimen at the Monterey Bay Aquarium increased in weight from {{convert|26|to|399|kg|lb|abbr=on}} and reached a height of nearly {{convert|1.8|m|ftin|abbr=on}} in 15 months.

The sheer size and thick skin of an adult of the species deters many smaller predators, but younger fish are vulnerable to predation by bluefin tuna and mahi mahi. Adults are consumed by orca, sharks and sea lions.{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/fascinationforfi00powe_0/page/270 |title=A Fascination for Fish: Adventures of an Underwater Pioneer |first=David C. |last=Powell |year=2001 |access-date=2007-06-13 |publisher=University of California Press, Monterey Bay Aquarium |location=Berkeley |isbn=978-0-520-22366-0 |oclc=44425533 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/fascinationforfi00powe_0/page/270 270–275] |chapter=21. Pelagic Fishes |chapter-url=http://content.cdlib.org/view?docId=kt2g502035&chunk.id=ch21 |url-access=registration }}

The mating practices of the ocean sunfish are poorly understood, but spawning areas have been suggested in the North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, and Indian oceans. Females of the species can produce more eggs than any other known vertebrate, up to 300 million at a time.{{cite journal |last1=Freedman |first1=Jonathan A. |last2=Noakes |first2=David L.G. |journal=Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries |volume=12 |issue=4 |year=2002 |doi=10.1023/a:1025365210414 |pages=403–416|title=Why are there no really big bony fishes? A point-of-view on maximum body size in teleosts and elasmobranchs |bibcode=2002RFBF...12..403F |s2cid=36649270 }} Sunfish eggs are released into the water and externally fertilized by sperm.

Newly hatched sunfish larvae are only {{convert|2.5|mm|in|frac=32|abbr=on}} long and weigh less than one gram. They develop into fry that resemble miniature pufferfish, their close relatives.{{cite web

|url=http://www.gma.org/fogm/Mola_mola.htm

|title=The Ocean Sunfishes or Headfishes

|author=Fishes of the Gulf of Maine

|publisher=Fishes of the Gulf of Maine

|access-date=2007-06-30}} Sunfish fry do not have the large pectoral fins and tail fin of their adult forms, but they have body spines uncharacteristic of adult sunfish, that disappear as they grow. Young sunfish school for protection, but this behavior is abandoned as they grow. The fry that survive can grow up to 60 million times their original weight before reaching adult proportions, arguably the most extreme size growth of any vertebrate animal.Wood, The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats. Sterling Pub Co Inc. (1983), {{ISBN|978-0-85112-235-9}}Kooijman, S. A. L. M., & Lika, K. (2013). Resource allocation to reproduction in animals. Am. Nat. subm, 2(06).

In 2016, researchers from China National Genebank and A*STAR Singapore, including Nobel laureate Sydney Brenner, sequenced the genome of the ocean sunfish and discovered several genes which might explain its fast growth rate and large body size. As member of the order Tetraodontiformes, like fugu, the sunfish has quite a compact genome, at 730 Mb in size. Analysis from this data suggests that sunfish and pufferfishes diverged approximately 68 million years ago, which corroborates the results of other recent studies based on smaller datasets.{{cite journal|vauthors=Pan H, Yu H, Ravi V|display-authors=etal|date=9 September 2016|title=The genome of the largest bony fish, ocean sunfish (Mola mola), provides insights into its fast growth rate|journal=GigaScience|volume=5|issue=1|pages=36|doi=10.1186/s13742-016-0144-3|pmid=27609345|pmc=5016917|doi-access=free}}

The ocean sunfish is listed as vulnerable by the IUCN, with its population decreasing. Its main threat is the use of drift gillnets

File:Enormous Sunfish.jpg

Despite their size, ocean sunfish are docile and pose no threat to human divers. Injuries from sunfish are rare, although a slight danger exists from large sunfish leaping out of the water onto boats. In 2005, a {{convert|1|m||abbr=off}}-long sunfish landed on a 4-year-old boy when the fish leaped onto the boy's family's boat off the coast of Pembrokeshire, Wales, causing slight injuries. Areas where they are commonly found are popular destinations for sport dives, and sunfish at some locations have reportedly become familiar with divers. They are more of a problem to boaters than to swimmers, as they can pose a hazard to watercraft due to their large size and weight. Collisions with sunfish are common in some parts of the world and can cause damage to the hull of a boat, or to the propellers of larger ships, as well as to the fish.

The flesh of the ocean sunfish is considered a delicacy in some regions, the largest markets being Taiwan and Japan. All parts of the sunfish are used in cuisine, from the fins to the internal organs.

Some parts are used in some areas of traditional medicine. Fishery products derived from sunfish are forbidden in the European Union according to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council, as they contain toxins that are harmful to human health.

Sunfish are accidentally but frequently caught in drift gillnet fisheries, making up nearly 30% of the total catch of the swordfish fishery employing drift gillnets in California. The bycatch rate is even higher for the Mediterranean swordfish industry, with 71% to 90% of the total catch being sunfish.{{cite video

|people=Tierney Thys

|date=February 2003

|title=Swim with giant sunfish in the open ocean

|url=https://www.ted.com/talks/tierney_thys_swims_with_the_giant_sunfish

|medium=Professional conference

|publisher=Technology Entertainment Design

|location=Monterey, California, United States

|access-date =2007-05-30}}

A decrease in sunfish populations may be caused by more frequent bycatch and the increasing popularity of sunfish in human diet. The fishery bycatch and destruction of ocean sunfish are unregulated worldwide. In some areas, the fish are "finned" by fishermen who regard them as worthless bait thieves; this process, in which the fins are cut off, results in the eventual death of the fish, because it can no longer propel itself without its dorsal and anal fins.{{cite web

|url=http://www.tunalab.unh.edu/molafishery.htm

|title=Present Fishery/Conservation

|first=Tierney

|last=Thys

|publisher=Large Pelagics Lab

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720094025/http://www.tunalab.unh.edu/molafishery.htm

|archive-date=2011-07-20}}

The species is also threatened by floating litter such as plastic bags which resemble jellyfish, a common prey item. Bags can choke and suffocate a fish or fill its stomach to the extent that it starves.

Patterns of this fish, known as kebuku, are seen in sarongs worn by women in Lamalera, a village in the island of Lembata, in the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia.

File:Mola mola ocean sunfish Monterey Bay Aquarium 2.jpg provides a size comparison between an ocean sunfish and humans.]]

Sunfish are not widely held in aquarium exhibits, due to the unique and demanding requirements of their care. Some Asian aquaria display them, particularly in Japan. The Kaiyukan Aquarium in Osaka is one of few aquaria with Mola mola on display, where it is reportedly as popular an attraction as the larger whale sharks.{{cite web

|url=http://www.kaiyukan.com/eng/life/index.htm

|title=Main Creature in Kaiyukan

|publisher=Osaka Kaiyukan Aquarium

|access-date=2007-06-13| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070528161126/http://www.kaiyukan.com/eng/life/index.htm| archive-date = May 28, 2007}}

The Lisbon Oceanarium in Portugal has ocean sunfish showcased in the main tank, and sunfish are also on display at the Denmark Nordsøen Oceanarium.Nordsøen Oceanarium: [http://en.nordsoenoceanarium.dk/the-open-sea The Open Sea.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705233243/http://en.nordsoenoceanarium.dk/the-open-sea |date=2015-07-05 }} Retrieved 8 December 2012.

In Kamogawa Sea World the ocean sunfish named Kukey, who started captivity in 1982, set a world record for captivity for 2,993 days, living for eight years. Kukey was {{convert|72|cm|ft|abbr=on}} at the time of delivery, but was {{convert|187|cm|ft|abbr=on}} in size at the time of death.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kamogawa-seaworld.jp/research/sakamata/pdf/no92.pdf|title=さかまた no92|website=鴨川シーワールド}}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{Cite web|url=https://kids.rurubu.jp/article/42453/|title=日本でマンボウに会える水族館は？マンボウはフグの仲間!? ヒレや泳ぎ方に注目！|website=るるぶKids|date=4 December 2020 }}

File:Mondfisch Ozenarium Lissabon 20090228.ogv]]

While the first ocean sunfish to be held in an aquarium in the United States is said to have arrived at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in August 1986,{{cite web

|url=http://www.mbayaq.org/aa/timelineBrowser.asp?tf=32|url-status=dead

|title=Aquarium Timeline

|publisher=Monterey Bay Aquarium

|access-date=2007-06-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511143956/http://www.mbayaq.org/aa/timelineBrowser.asp?tf=32|archive-date=2008-05-11}} other specimens have previously been held at other locations. Marineland of the Pacific, closed since 1987 and located on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Los Angeles County, California, held at least one ocean sunfish by 1961, and in 1964 held a {{convert|650|lb|kg|adj=on|order=flip}} specimen, said to be the largest ever captured at that time.Los Angeles Times. June 15, 1964. [https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/382111992/ p. 3] However, another {{convert|1000|lb|kg|adj=on|order=flip}} specimen was brought alive to Marineland Studios Aquarium, near St. Augustine, Florida, in 1941.The Miami News, March 16, 1941, p. 5-C

Because sunfish had not been kept in captivity on a large scale before, the staff at Monterey Bay was forced to innovate and create their own methods for capture, feeding, and parasite control. By 1998, these issues were overcome, and the aquarium was able to hold a specimen for more than a year, later releasing it after its weight increased by more than 14 times. Mola mola has since become a permanent feature of the Open Sea exhibit. Monterey Bay Aquarium's largest sunfish specimen was euthanized on February 14, 2008, after an extended period of poor health.{{cite web|date=14 February 2008|title=Aquarium Euthanizes Its Largest Ocean Sunfish|publisher=KSBW|url=http://www.ksbw.com/news/15306004/detail.html|url-status=dead|access-date=2008-12-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713173709/http://www.ksbw.com/news/15306004/detail.html|archive-date=2011-07-13}}

A major concern to curators is preventive measures taken to keep specimens in captivity from injuring themselves by rubbing against the walls of a tank, since ocean sunfish cannot easily maneuver their bodies. In a smaller tank, hanging a vinyl curtain has been used as a stopgap measure to convert a cuboid tank to a rounded shape and prevent the fish from scraping against the sides. A more effective solution is simply to provide enough room for the sunfish to swim in wide circles. The tank must also be sufficiently deep to accommodate the vertical height of the sunfish, which may reach {{convert|3.2|m|ftin|0|abbr=on}}.

Feeding captive sunfish in a tank with faster-moving, more aggressive fish can also present a challenge. Eventually, the fish can be taught to respond to a floating target to be fed,{{bsn|date=May 2024}} and to take food from the end of a pole or from human hands.

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{{cite news|title=Boy struck by giant tropical fish|publisher=BBC|date=28 August 2005|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4192566.stm|url-status=live|access-date=24 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240220001844/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/4192566.stm|archive-date=20 February 2024}}

{{cite news|title=Giant sunfish washed up on Overstrand beach in Norfolk|date=10 December 2012|website=BBC News Online|publisher=BBC|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-20663332|url-status=live|access-date=22 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230906095158/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-norfolk-20663332|archive-date=6 September 2023}}

{{cite journal|last1=Caldwell|first1=David K.|last2=Brown|first2=David H.|title=Notes on killer whales|date=January–March 1964|journal=Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences|volume=63|issue=3|page=137|publisher=Southern California Academy of Sciences|location=Los Angeles, California|url=https://archive.org/stream/bulletinofsouthe6365sout#page/n147/search/sunfish}}

{{FishBase family|family=Molidae|month=March|year=2013}}

{{cite iucn |author=Liu, J. |author2=Zapfe, G. |author3=Shao, K.-T. |author4=Leis, J.L. |author5=Matsuura, K. |author6=Hardy, G. |author7=Liu, M. |author8=Robertson, R. |author9=Tyler, J. |year=2015 |errata=2016 |title=Mola mola |volume=2015 |page=e.T190422A97667070 |doi= |access-date=11 July 2024}}

{{cite news|title=IUCN Red List of threatened species includes ocean sunfish|website=The Japan Times|publisher=The Japan Times, Ltd. (株式会社ジャパンタイムズ)|series=Japan|date=19 November 2015|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/11/19/national/iucn-red-list-of-threatened-species-includes-ocean-sunfish/|url-status=live|access-date=20 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240520211221/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/11/19/national/iucn-red-list-of-threatened-species-includes-ocean-sunfish/|archive-date=20 May 2024}}

{{cite video|title=Life in the slow lane|url=http://www.montereybayaquarium.com/animals/AnimalDetails.aspx?enc=C53nR+hhcrXgfKW+bt/MWA|url-status=dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121017051504/https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/AnimalDetails.aspx?enc=C53nR+hhcrXgfKW+bt/MWA|archive-date=17 October 2012|publisher=Monterey Bay Aquarium|access-date=24 October 2010}}

{{cite news|last=Lulham|first=Amanda|title=Giant sunfish alarm crews|date=23 December 2006|publisher=The Daily Telegraph|url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20965343-23218,00.html|url-status=dead|access-date=12 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304194150/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20965343-23218,00.html|archive-date=4 March 2009}}

{{cite web|title=Mola mola|website=NatureServe Explorer|url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.104280/Mola_mola|access-date=17 April 2024}}

{{cite web|title=Ocean Sunfish|date=7 March 2019|website=Oceanário de Lisboa|location=Lisbon|url=https://www.oceanario.pt/en/exhibitions/aquarium/fishes/ocean-sunfish|url-status=live|access-date=22 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240522184401/https://www.oceanario.pt/en/exhibitions/aquarium/fishes/ocean-sunfish|archive-date=22 May 2024}}

{{cite journal|last1=Porcasi|first1=Judith F.|last2=Andrews|first2=Sherri L.|date=7 July 2001|title=Evidence for a Prehistoric Mola mola Fishery on the Southern California Coast|url=https://escholarship.org/content/qt75q9p1gp/qt75q9p1gp.pdf|journal=Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology|volume=23|issue=1|pages=51–66|jstor=27825752|access-date=20 May 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240417135308/https://escholarship.org/content/qt75q9p1gp/qt75q9p1gp.pdf|archive-date=17 April 2024}}

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{{cite journal|last1=Sousa|first1=Lara L.|last2=Xavier|first2=Raquel|last3=Costa|first3=Vânia|last4=Humphries|first4=Nicolas E.|last5=Trueman|first5=Clive|last6=Rosa|first6=Rui|last7=Sims|first7=David|last8=Queiroz|first8=Nuno|name-list-style=&|title=DNA barcoding identifies a cosmopolitan diet in the ocean sunfish|date=4 July 2016|journal=Scientific Reports|publisher=Nature Portfolio|volume=6|issue=1|pages=28762|doi=10.1038/srep28762|pmid=27373803|pmc=4931451|bibcode=2016NatSR...628762S|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/srep28762.pdf|url-status=live|access-date=22 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231105072949/https://www.nature.com/articles/srep28762.pdf|archive-date=5 November 2023}}

{{cite WoRMS|author=van der Land, Jacob|editor1=Bailly, Nicolas|orig-date=21 December 2004|date=7 December 2021|title=Mola mola (Linnaeus, 1758)|id=127405|access-date=24 May 2024}}

}}

{{Commons category|Mola mola}}

{{Wikispecies|Mola mola}}

• [http://FishBase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=1732 FishBase reference]
• [http://AustralianMuseum.net.au/Ocean-Sunfish-Mola-mola/ Australian Museum]
• [http://OceanSunfish.org/ OceanSunfish.org]

• [http://www.earthwindow.com/mola.html Mike Johnson Natural History Photography]
• [http://www.oceanlight.com/html/mola_mola.html Phillip Colla Photography/Oceanlight.com]
• [http://www.ted.com/talks/tierney_thys_swims_with_the_giant_sunfish Video lecture (16:53): Swim with giant sunfish in the open ocean] - Tierney Thys
• Skaphandrus.com [http://skaphandrus.com/en/marine-species/info/species/Mola-mola Mola mola photos] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105192537/http://skaphandrus.com/en/marine-species/info/species/Mola-mola |date=2016-01-05 }}
• {{SealifePhotos|127405}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q192285}}

{{Authority control}}

ocean sunfish

Category:Pantropical fish

ocean sunfish

ocean sunfish