Ocean Sunfish
Mola mola
Taxonomy
• Phylum: Chordata
• Subphylum: Vertebrata
• Class: Actinopterygii
• Division: Teleostei
• Order:Tetraodontiformes
(triggerfish, boxfish,
porcupine fish, pufferfish)
• Family: Molidae
• Genus, Species: Mola http://divegeeks.com/images/SDShark/mola1.jpg
mola
Teleost and Tetradontiformes
• Division Teleostei – the most dominant living
fishes
– Teleosts account for 96% of all living fishes
• Order Tetradontiformes – the most highly derived
fishes – “The pinnacle of teleostean evolution”
– Characterized by a high degree of fusion or loss of
numerous bones in the head and body
– Date back to the early Eocene (55 to 38 million years
ago)
www.mbayaq.org/aa/ timelineBrowser.asp?tf=72
• World’s heaviest bony fish
http://www.amonline.net.au/fishes/fishfacts/fish/mola.htm
• Can grow to be 2m long and weigh as much as 1000kg
(2200 pounds)
• The largest mola ever recorded was 2235 kg (4,927 lbs).
• It measured 3.1 m (10 ft) from snout tip to "tail" fin and
4.26 m (14 ft) from dorsal fin to anal fin tip
http://www.bidp-balidiving.com/assets/images/page/BIDP1810%20Mola.jpg
http://www.groton.k12.ct.us/WWW/fsr/student/spr04/Jessi/FISH.htm
• Molas have a large number of cartilaginous elements or
cartilage-lined bones in their skulls and in their fin
supports.
• The body is essentially rectangular in side view with very
tall, thin dorsal and anal fins that propel the fish
• They lack a true tail but have a “pseudocaudal” tail fin
made up primarily of dorsal and anal fin rays
http://cordellbank.noaa.gov/images/wildlife/mola.jpg http://www.amonline.net.au/fishes/fishfacts/images/sunteeth.jpg
• They lack true teeth and instead have tooth plates that
are shaped like a beak
• Mola mola comes from the latin word “millstone”
• Their aptly named “sunfish” because they are usually
found basking on their sides at the surface
Mola diets
• Mostly pelagic feeders
• Diet consists of jellyfish, Portuguese man-o-
war, ctenophores and salps.
• Squid, sponges, serpent star bits, eel grass,
crustaceans, small fishes and deepwater eel
larvae have also been found in M. mola guts
• Indicating that they forage both at the surface,
among floating weeds, on the seafloor and
into deep water
Reproduction
• Spawning habits
unknown
• Capable of producing
300 million eggs, an
apparent record among
fishes
• After hatching, the larvae
look more like pufferfish.
They measure just 2.5
mm
• As they grow the spines
disappear, as do their
tails
http://www.oceansunfish.org/lifehistory.html
Molas and parasites
• Molas are infamous
for their impressive
parasite load
• Up to 40 genera
have been found on
one individual
• Could bask on side
to let gulls remove
parasites
http://www.amonline.net.au/fishes/fishfacts/images/mmolapar.jpg&imgrefurl
Parasites cont’d
• Molas have been seen
frequenting kelp beds
as well as other
cleaning stations
Predators
• Large portion of
bycatch in Pacific
• Market in Asian
culture
• Sea lions
• Orcas
• Parasites
Molidae evolution
• Highly derived group – The most advanced tetraodontiforms
are the three species of temperate and tropical molas (Molidae)
• Molidae has returned anatomically to a starting point in fish
evolution
• It is therefore important to bring up that evolution does not
mean moving from primitive to advanced forms
“The mola’s rediscovery of the utility of cartilage
underscores the observation that all living fishes are
the successful result of the trial and error processes
of mutation and natural selection”
The Diversity of Fishes, Helfman G.S., B.B. Collette, and D.E. Facey,
Massachusetts, Blackwell Science, Inc. 1999
http://www.oceansunfish.org/lifehistory.html
