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Giant 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, is a fish belonging to the family Molidae. It is closely related to the more widely known Mola mola, and is found in the Southern Hemisphere. With a specimen found dead near the Azores in 2021 weighing in at 2744 kg (6049 lb) it is the largest extant bony fish species in terms of maximum recorded mass by a wide margin. It can be found basking on its side occasionally near the surface, which is thought to be used to re-heat itself after diving in cold water for prey, recharge its oxygen stores, and attract gulls to free itself of parasites.
In December 2017, it was demonstrated that Mola alexandrini may be a senior synonym of Mola ramsayi (Giglioli 1883) through both historically and newly published morphological data. In July 2020, building upon this scientific learning, the larval forms of these species were discovered for the first time and confirmed with DNA analyses by Australian and New Zealand scientific teams.
The ocean sunfish are in the genus Mola, currently composed of three species: Mola mola, Mola alexandrini, Mola tecta. Also known as the southern ocean sunfish or southern sunfish, Mola alexandrini are commonly found in the epipelagic zone of the ocean, where enough light penetrates for photosynthesis to occur, although recent studies also suggest they may also be more common in deep waters.
Camillo Ranzani named Mola alexandrini in honour of his contemporary Antonio Alessandrini, a teacher of comparative anatomy and veterinary science at the University of Bologna.
Mola alexandrini has a relatively small mouth, and its teeth are fused into a parrot-like beak. It can reach up to 3.3 m (11 ft) in length and 2,700 kilograms (6,000 lb) in mass, making it the heaviest bony fish. Their bodies are flat and round, with large fins that they swish back and forth to propel themselves with as they swim horizontally. Their skin has rough denticles and a leathery texture, with brown and gray coloring with pale blotches; at death, their scales turn white. The body has a thick white subcutaneous gelatinous layer that is smooth to the touch, with a laterally compressed body covered in small rectangular scales. All mola species have no caudal bones, ribs, or pelvic fins, and have fused vertebrae, leaving only their median fins to propel themselves. Mola alexandrini can be distinguished from Mola mola by its smaller number of ossicles and lack of a vertical band of denticles at its base. In Mola, the lower jaws are intact while the upper jaws are slightly forked. On the head, the lateral lines have small, white, rounded otoconia. On the sides are small gill openings covered by a soft gill membrane and gill rakers, which are covered under a subcutaneous gelatinous layer. All fins are spineless and triangular. Pectoral fins are small and rounded, located midlaterally fitting into shallow grooves on sides of the body, and dorsal fins are located on both sides of the anal fin.
M. alexandrini can be distinguished by its unique characteristics of head bump, a chin bump, rectangular body scales, and rounded clavus. Although adult sunfish look generally similar, they are distinguishable using seven characteristics: number of clavus fin rays, number of clavus ossicles, shape of clavus margin, presence of head bump, proportion of body length compared to body height, shape of body scales, and the presence of a chin bump.
Alongside these species, there are no external differences between sexes; internally, however, the gonads differ in shape, with females having a single spherical ovary and males having a pair of elongated, rod-like testes.
Overall, the maximum recorded weight of M. alexandrini is 2,744 kg (6049 lb) from a 325-cm-length (10.66 ft) specimen caught off the coast of Faial Island, Azores, Portugal in late 2021. With these records, this specimen is currently regarded as the world's heaviest bony fish specimen. It exceeds by nearly half a ton (444 kg, 979 lb) the largest previously known specimen (2300 kg, 5070 lb), caught off Kamogawa, Japan in 1996.
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Giant 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, is a fish belonging to the family Molidae. It is closely related to the more widely known Mola mola, and is found in the Southern Hemisphere. With a specimen found dead near the Azores in 2021 weighing in at 2744 kg (6049 lb) it is the largest extant bony fish species in terms of maximum recorded mass by a wide margin. It can be found basking on its side occasionally near the surface, which is thought to be used to re-heat itself after diving in cold water for prey, recharge its oxygen stores, and attract gulls to free itself of parasites.
In December 2017, it was demonstrated that Mola alexandrini may be a senior synonym of Mola ramsayi (Giglioli 1883) through both historically and newly published morphological data. In July 2020, building upon this scientific learning, the larval forms of these species were discovered for the first time and confirmed with DNA analyses by Australian and New Zealand scientific teams.
The ocean sunfish are in the genus Mola, currently composed of three species: Mola mola, Mola alexandrini, Mola tecta. Also known as the southern ocean sunfish or southern sunfish, Mola alexandrini are commonly found in the epipelagic zone of the ocean, where enough light penetrates for photosynthesis to occur, although recent studies also suggest they may also be more common in deep waters.
Camillo Ranzani named Mola alexandrini in honour of his contemporary Antonio Alessandrini, a teacher of comparative anatomy and veterinary science at the University of Bologna.
Mola alexandrini has a relatively small mouth, and its teeth are fused into a parrot-like beak. It can reach up to 3.3 m (11 ft) in length and 2,700 kilograms (6,000 lb) in mass, making it the heaviest bony fish. Their bodies are flat and round, with large fins that they swish back and forth to propel themselves with as they swim horizontally. Their skin has rough denticles and a leathery texture, with brown and gray coloring with pale blotches; at death, their scales turn white. The body has a thick white subcutaneous gelatinous layer that is smooth to the touch, with a laterally compressed body covered in small rectangular scales. All mola species have no caudal bones, ribs, or pelvic fins, and have fused vertebrae, leaving only their median fins to propel themselves. Mola alexandrini can be distinguished from Mola mola by its smaller number of ossicles and lack of a vertical band of denticles at its base. In Mola, the lower jaws are intact while the upper jaws are slightly forked. On the head, the lateral lines have small, white, rounded otoconia. On the sides are small gill openings covered by a soft gill membrane and gill rakers, which are covered under a subcutaneous gelatinous layer. All fins are spineless and triangular. Pectoral fins are small and rounded, located midlaterally fitting into shallow grooves on sides of the body, and dorsal fins are located on both sides of the anal fin.
M. alexandrini can be distinguished by its unique characteristics of head bump, a chin bump, rectangular body scales, and rounded clavus. Although adult sunfish look generally similar, they are distinguishable using seven characteristics: number of clavus fin rays, number of clavus ossicles, shape of clavus margin, presence of head bump, proportion of body length compared to body height, shape of body scales, and the presence of a chin bump.
Alongside these species, there are no external differences between sexes; internally, however, the gonads differ in shape, with females having a single spherical ovary and males having a pair of elongated, rod-like testes.
Overall, the maximum recorded weight of M. alexandrini is 2,744 kg (6049 lb) from a 325-cm-length (10.66 ft) specimen caught off the coast of Faial Island, Azores, Portugal in late 2021. With these records, this specimen is currently regarded as the world's heaviest bony fish specimen. It exceeds by nearly half a ton (444 kg, 979 lb) the largest previously known specimen (2300 kg, 5070 lb), caught off Kamogawa, Japan in 1996.