|
Molidae
The Molidae comprise the family of the molas or ocean sunfishes, unusual fish whose bodies come to an end just behind the dorsal and anal fins, giving them a "half-fish" appearance. They are also the largest of the ray-finned bony fish, with the southern sunfish, ''Mola alexandrini'', recorded at in length and in weight. Description Molidae have the fewest vertebrae of any fish, with only 16 in ''Mola mola''. They also completely lack all caudal bones, and most of their skeleton is made of cartilage. No bony plates occur in the skin, which is, however, thick and dense like cartilage and is fairly rough. They also lack swim bladders. Molids mostly swim by using their anal and dorsal fins; the pectoral fins are probably just stabilizers. To steer, they squirt a strong jet of water out of their mouths or gills. They can also make minor adjustments in the orientation of the anal fin or the dorsal fin so as to control the amount of force it produces and the angle at which the for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mola Mola
The ocean sunfish or common mola (''Mola mola'') is one of the largest bony fish in the world. It was misidentified as the heaviest bony fish, which was actually a different species, '' Mola alexandrini''. Adults typically weigh between . The species is native to tropical and temperate waters around the world. It resembles a fish head without a tail, and its main body is flattened laterally. Sunfish can be as tall as they are long when their dorsal and ventral fins are extended. Sunfish are generalist predators that consume largely small fish, fish larvae, squid, and crustaceans. Sea jellies and salps, once thought to be the primary prey of sunfish, make up only 15% of a sunfish's diet. Females of the species can produce more eggs than any other known vertebrate, up to 300,000,000 at a time. Sunfish fry resemble miniature pufferfish, with large pectoral fins, a tail fin, and body spines uncharacteristic of adult sunfish. Adult sunfish are vulnerable to few natural predators, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Sunfish
The giant sunfish or bumphead sunfish (''Mola alexandrini''), also known as the Ramsay's sunfish, southern sunfish, southern ocean sunfish, short sunfish or bump-head sunfish in many parts of the world,Diane J. Bray, 2011, Short Sunfish, or even. Mola ramsayi, in Fishes of Australia, accessed 02 Feb 2014, http://www.fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/784 is a fish belonging to the family Molidae. It is closely related to its congener, the more widely known ''Mola mola'', and is found in the Southern Hemisphere. With a specimen found dead near Azores in 2021 weighing in at 2744 kg (6049 lb) it clearly is the largest extant bony fish species in terms of maximum recorded mass. It can be found basking on its side occasionally near the surface, which is thought to be used to re-heat themselves after diving in cold water for prey, recharge their oxygen stores, and attract gulls to free them of parasites. Taxonomy In December 2017, it was demonstrated that ''Mola alexandrini'' m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mola Alexandrini
The giant sunfish or bumphead sunfish (''Mola alexandrini''), also known as the Ramsay's sunfish, southern sunfish, southern ocean sunfish, short sunfish or bump-head sunfish in many parts of the world,Diane J. Bray, 2011, Short Sunfish, or even. Mola ramsayi, in Fishes of Australia, accessed 02 Feb 2014, http://www.fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/784 is a fish belonging to the family Molidae. It is closely related to its congener, the more widely known ''Mola mola'', and is found in the Southern Hemisphere. With a specimen found dead near Azores in 2021 weighing in at 2744 kg (6049 lb) it clearly is the largest extant bony fish species in terms of maximum recorded mass. It can be found basking on its side occasionally near the surface, which is thought to be used to re-heat themselves after diving in cold water for prey, recharge their oxygen stores, and attract gulls to free them of parasites. Taxonomy In December 2017, it was demonstrated that ''Mola alexandrini'' m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ranzania Laevis
The slender sunfish (''Ranzania laevis'') is a mola of the family Molidae, the only extant member of the genus ''Ranzania'',Matsuura, K. (2014): Taxonomy and systematics of tetraodontiform fishes: a review focusing primarily on progress in the period from 1980 to 2014. ''Ichthyological Research, 62 (1): 72-113.'' found globally in tropical and temperate seas. Its length is up to 1 m (3.3 ft). Several stranding and mass stranding events have occurred on beaches near Albany, Western Australia. The first South Australian specimen was found at Aldinga in 1944. A cast was made from it, and a replica was made, painted and prepared for display at the South Australian museum that year. Several other individuals have stranded in South Australia at Port Willunga, Netley and West Beach with the latter successfully returned live to deeper water. The body of this fish gives the appearance of the side view of a larger shark (an optical illusion underwater). This is most likely to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Masturus Lanceolatus
The sharptail mola (''Masturus lanceolatus'') is a species of mola found circumglobally in tropical and temperate waters. It is similar in appearance to the ocean sunfish (''Mola mola''), but can be distinguished by the projection on its clavus (pseudo-tail). Other common names include sharpfin sunfish, point-tailed sunfish, and trunkfish.McGrouther, M. (2007)Sharptail Sunfish, ''Masturus lanceolatus'' ''Australian Museum Fish Site''. Rarely encountered, very little is known of the biology or life history of the sharptail mola. It has recently become important to commercial fisheries operating off eastern Taiwan. This species is the only member of its genus. Distribution and habitat The distribution of the sharptail mola is worldwide in tropical and temperate waters. They are primarily inhabitants of the epipelagic zone, but are rarely sighted at the surface, with many of those appearing to be ill and parasite-ridden. During the day, they spend most of their time at depths of , ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mola Tecta
''Mola tecta'', the hoodwinker sunfish, belongs to the family Molidae and genus '' Mola''. It is closely related to the more widely known ocean sunfish (''Mola mola''). The Latin word "tecta" means hidden. The word "hidden" was adopted for the name because the fish has blended in among other species of sunfish for a long time and has only been discovered recently. Discovered on a beach near Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2015, it was the first new species of sunfish to be identified in 130 years. ''Mola tecta'' are mostly discovered in the temperate region of the Southern Hemisphere in the water near Australia, New Zealand, Southern Chile and Southern Africa. It was first described by Marianne Nyegaard, a marine scientist who studied ocean sunfish for her PhD. Description The hoodwinker sunfish is a congener of (in the same genus as) the more widely known ocean sunfish, ''Mola mola''. ''Mola tecta'', like other ''Mola'' species, has a flat, almost symmetrical oval shape. It has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Masturus
The sharptail mola (''Masturus lanceolatus'') is a species of mola found circumglobally in tropical and temperate waters. It is similar in appearance to the ocean sunfish (''Mola mola''), but can be distinguished by the projection on its clavus (pseudo-tail). Other common names include sharpfin sunfish, point-tailed sunfish, and trunkfish.McGrouther, M. (2007)Sharptail Sunfish, ''Masturus lanceolatus'' ''Australian Museum Fish Site''. Rarely encountered, very little is known of the biology or life history of the sharptail mola. It has recently become important to commercial fisheries operating off eastern Taiwan. This species is the only member of its genus. Distribution and habitat The distribution of the sharptail mola is worldwide in tropical and temperate waters. They are primarily inhabitants of the epipelagic zone, but are rarely sighted at the surface, with many of those appearing to be ill and parasite-ridden. During the day, they spend most of their time at depths of , ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ranzania (fish)
The slender sunfish (''Ranzania laevis'') is a mola of the family Molidae, the only extant member of the genus ''Ranzania'',Matsuura, K. (2014): Taxonomy and systematics of tetraodontiform fishes: a review focusing primarily on progress in the period from 1980 to 2014. ''Ichthyological Research, 62 (1): 72-113.'' found globally in tropical and temperate seas. Its length is up to 1 m (3.3 ft). Several stranding and mass stranding events have occurred on beaches near Albany, Western Australia. The first South Australian specimen was found at Aldinga in 1944. A cast was made from it, and a replica was made, painted and prepared for display at the South Australian museum that year. Several other individuals have stranded in South Australia at Port Willunga, Netley and West Beach with the latter successfully returned live to deeper water. The body of this fish gives the appearance of the side view of a larger shark (an optical illusion underwater). This is most likely to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Austromola
''Austromola angerhoferi'' is an extinct species of ocean sunfish. It is known from the Lower Miocene Ebelsberg Formation near Pucking, Austria. This species was a resident of the Paratethys Sea The Paratethys sea, Paratethys ocean, Paratethys realm or just Paratethys was a large shallow inland sea that stretched from the region north of the Alps over Central Europe to the Aral Sea in Central Asia. Paratethys was peculiar due to its ... and is estimated to have reached a length around , and total height around . References Molidae {{Tetraodontiformes-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eomola
''Eomola'' is an extinct genus of sunfish from the middle Eocene. Its fossils have been found in Russia. ''Eomola'' was described in 1992 by James Tyler and Alexandre Bannikov, and the type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specim ... is ''E. bimaxillaria''. References External links Evolution of the Ocean Sunfish Molidae Eocene fish Eocene fish of Europe Fossil taxa described in 1992 {{Tetraodontiformes-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tetraodontiformes
The Tetraodontiformes are an order of highly derived ray-finned fish, also called the Plectognathi. Sometimes these are classified as a suborder of the order Perciformes. The Tetraodontiformes are represented by 10 extant families and at least 349 species overall; most are marine and dwell in and around tropical coral reefs, but a few species are found in freshwater streams and estuaries. They have no close relatives, and descend from a line of coral-dwelling species that emerged around 80 million years ago. Description Various bizarre forms are included here, all radical departures from the streamlined body plan typical of most fishes. These forms range from nearly square or triangular (boxfishes), globose (pufferfishes) to laterally compressed (filefishes and triggerfishes). They range in size from ''Rudarius excelsus'' (a filefish), measuring just in length, to the ocean sunfish, the largest of all bony fishes at up to in length and weighing over 2 tonnes. Most members of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mola (fish)
A sunfish (or mola) is any fish in the ''Mola'' genus (family Molidae). The fish develop their truncated, bullet-like shape because the back fin, with which they are born, never grows. Instead, it folds into itself as the creature matures, creating a rounded rudder called a clavus. ''Mola'' in Latin means "millstone" and describes the ocean sunfish's somewhat circular shape. They are a silvery color and have a rough skin texture. The mola is the heaviest of all the bony fish, with large specimens reaching vertically and horizontally and weighing over . Sharks and rays can be heavier, but they are cartilaginous fish. Mola are found in temperate and tropical oceans around the world. They are frequently seen basking in the sun near the surface and are often mistaken for sharks when their huge dorsal fins emerge above the water. Their teeth are fused into a beak-like structure, and they are unable to fully close their relatively small mouths. Ocean sunfish can become infested w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
