Overview
Brief Summary
Mola is a genus of two species (Mola mola and Mola ramsayi) in the family Molidae, the ocean sunfish. Mola mola is the most common of the ocean sunfish and gave the Molidae their English common name from its habit of "sunbathing" at the ocean surface. Molidae is one of the most recently evolved groups of fishes, descending from reef fish just 40 million years ago and is in the order Tetraodontiformes, which includes puffers and porcupine fish.
Mola grow to be large, with an average size of 1.8m (6ft) and a record size of 3.1m (10ft). They have rough and leathery skin covered with a thick coat of mucus. Their coloration ranges from silvery-gray through spotted to white and they are capable of sudden changes in color in response to unexpected stress, such as predator attacks. Their life span remains unknown.
Mola have a diverse diet and are known to feed at multiple levels in the water column, but they focus on gelatinous floating prey like jellyfish. Mola are infamous for the high count and numerous types of parasites that can be found on any single individual. Their large size allows them some security from predators, but they suffer large losses as bycatch in human fisheries.
- Oceansunfish.org. (2010). The ocean sunfish: facts. Retrieved from: oceansunfish.org.
© Rachel Sargent
Supplier: Rachel Sargent
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Ecology
Habitat
Water temperature and chemistry ranges based on 3141 samples.
Environmental ranges
Depth range (m): 0 - 4600
Temperature range (°C): 1.478 - 26.831
Nitrate (umol/L): 0.119 - 30.890
Salinity (PPS): 30.381 - 36.508
Oxygen (ml/l): 3.107 - 7.599
Phosphate (umol/l): 0.045 - 1.981
Silicate (umol/l): 0.565 - 80.155
Graphical representation
Depth range (m): 0 - 4600
Temperature range (°C): 1.478 - 26.831
Nitrate (umol/L): 0.119 - 30.890
Salinity (PPS): 30.381 - 36.508
Oxygen (ml/l): 3.107 - 7.599
Phosphate (umol/l): 0.045 - 1.981
Silicate (umol/l): 0.565 - 80.155
Note: this information has not been validated. Check this *note*. Your feedback is most welcome.
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Molecular Biology and Genetics
Molecular Biology
Statistics of barcoding coverage
| Specimen Records: | 15 | Public Records: | 7 |
| Specimens with Sequences: | 14 | Public Species: | 1 |
| Specimens with Barcodes: | 13 | Public BINs: | 2 |
| Species: | 2 | ||
| Species With Barcodes: | 1 | ||
© Barcode of Life Data Systems
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Barcode data
© Barcode of Life Data Systems
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Locations of barcode samples
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Wikipedia
Mola (fish)
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2013) |
A sunfish (or mola) is any fish in the Mola genus (family Molidae). The fishes develop their truncated, bullet-like shape because the back fin which they are born with 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 are the heaviest of all the bony fish, with large specimens reaching 14 feet (4.3 m) vertically and 10 feet (3.0 m) horizontally and weighing nearly 5,000 pounds (2,300 kg). Sharks and rays can be heavier, but they're 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 so infested with skin parasites, they will often invite small fish or even birds to feast them. Sunfish will even breach the surface up to 10 feet (3.0 m) in the air, in an attempt to shake the parasites.
They are clumsy swimmers, waggling their large dorsal and anal fins to move and steering with their clavus. Their food of choice is jellyfish, though they will eat small fish and huge amounts of zooplankton and algae as well. They are harmless to people, but can be very curious and will often approach divers.
Their population is considered stable, though they frequently are snagged in drift gill nets and can suffocate on sea trash, like plastic bags (which resemble jellyfish).
Species
There are currently two recognized species in this genus:[2]
- Mola mola (Linnaeus, 1758) (Ocean sunfish)
- Mola ramsayi (Giglioli, 1883) (Southern sunfish)
References
- ^ Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology 364: 560. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
- ^ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2012). Species of Mola in FishBase. October 2012 version.
- National Geographic Online
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Source:
Wikipedia
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