Species: Mola mola, Ocean sunfish


Mola mola (Linnaeus, 1758)
Ocean sunfish
Body a deep oval (depth usually ~ length), strongly compressed; mouth a horizontal slit when closed, opens at the front, is a beak (without a central suture) composed of teeth fused to the jaws; gill openings small, on side just before pectorals; gill rakers are covered with skin; pectorals short, rounded; no pelvics; dorsal 17-18 rays; anal 14-18 rays; pectoral 12-13 rays; no tail base; dorsal and anal fins long and high, symmetrical, used for locomotion, at rear of body, their rear rays joined to tail fin immediately behind them that is reduced to a vertically elongate, short, blunt rudder, with bony ossicles on its margin, with an undulating rounded profile; skin thick, tough, with small round denticles.
Grey brown to dark blue above, often with large pale blotches, silvery below, fins dark.
Size: 368 cm.
Habitat: oceanic.
Depth near surface, 0-644 m.
Circumglobal, tropical to warm temperate; off Baja and the Gulf of California, and the Galapagos; potentially throughout our region.

High Resolution Map Download
- Salinity
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- Marine Only
- Marine
- Inshore/Offshore
-
- Offshore
- Offshore Only
- Water Column Position
-
- Near Surface
- Water column only
- Surface
- Mid Water
- Habitat
-
- Water column
- FishBase Habitat
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- Pelagic
- Feeding Group
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- Planktivore
- Data
- Diet
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- Zooplankton
- Pelagic fish larvae
- Bony fishes
- Pelagic jellyfish/ctenophores
- Data
- Pelagic crustacea
- Octopus/squid/cuttlefish
- Egg Type
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- No data
- Pelagic
- Pelagic larva
- Global Endemism
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- Transisthmian (East Pacific + Atlantic of Central America)
- East Pacific + all Atlantic (East+West)
- Circumtropical ( Indian + Pacific + Atlantic Oceans)
- East Pacific + Atlantic (East +/or West)
- "Transpacific" (East + Central &/or West Pacific)
- TEP non-endemic
- All species
- Regional Endemism
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- All species
- Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) non-endemic
- Continent + Island (s)
- Island (s)
- Continent
- Eastern Pacific non-endemic
- Residency
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- Resident
- Climate Zone
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- Equatorial (Costa Rica to Ecuador + Galapagos, Clipperton, Cocos, Malpelo)
- Northern Tropical (Mexican Province to Nicaragua + Revillagigedos)
- North Temperate (Californian Province &/or Northern Gulf of California)
- Northern Subtropical (Cortez Province + Sinaloan Gap)
- IUCN Red List
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- Not evaluated / Listed
- CITES
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- Not listed
- Length Max
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- 368
- Depth Range Min
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- 0
- Depth Range Max
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- 644