Ocean sunfish

Mola mola · The ocean sunfish resembles a fish head without a tail and lives in tropical and temperate waters worldwide.

Also called Common mola, Headfish, Mola Ocean Sunfish, Oceanic sunfish.

Ocean sunfish
Photo: Yohann Cordelle, CC BY-SA 3.0
Ocean sunfish
Photo: U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Public domain
Ocean sunfish
Photo: H.-U. Küenle, CC BY-SA 4.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassActinopterygii
OrderTetraodontiformes
FamilyMolidae
GenusMola
SpeciesMola mola

Where it lives

Temperate and tropical open seas worldwide.

Fun facts

  • Female ocean sunfish can release up to 300 million eggs at once, more than any other known vertebrate.
  • A sunfish can grow up to 60 million times its birth weight, the most extreme growth recorded for any vertebrate.
  • Ocean sunfish lack a swim bladder and instead float using a gelatinous under-skin layer that's about 90% water.
  • Sunfish sometimes leap clear of the water, breaching about 3 meters high, apparently to shake off skin parasites.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).