In Polish, it is named samogłów, meaning 'head alone' or 'only head', because it has no true tail. In German, the fish is also known as Schwimmender Kopf, or 'swimming head'. Its common names in Dutch, Portuguese, French, Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Russian, Greek, Hungarian, Norwegian, and German ( maanvis, peixe lua, Poisson lune, pez luna, peix lluna, Pesce luna, рыба-луна, φεγγαρόψαρο, holdhal, månefisk and Mondfisch, respectively) mean 'moon fish', in reference to its rounded shape. Its common English name, sunfish, refers to the animal's habit of sunbathing at the surface of the water. Its scientific name, mola, is Latin for 'millstone', which the fish resembles because of its gray color, rough texture, and rounded body. Many of the sunfish's various names allude themselves to its flattened shape. It has a flattened body and is as tall as it is long. Naming and taxonomy The ocean sunfish is one of the heaviest bony fish. The ocean sunfish, Mola mola, is the type species of the genus.

Sunfish are frequently caught in gillnets.Ī member of the order Tetraodontiformes, which also includes pufferfish, porcupinefish, and filefish, the sunfish shares many traits common to members of this order. In the European Union, regulations ban the sale of fish and fishery products derived from the family Molidae. Sunfish are considered a delicacy in some parts of the world, including Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Sunfish fry resemble miniature pufferfish, with large pectoral fins, a tail fin, and body spines uncharacteristic of adult sunfish.Īdult sunfish are vulnerable to few natural predators, but sea lions, killer whales, and sharks will consume them. Females of the species can produce more eggs than any other known vertebrate, up to 300,000,000 at a time.

Jellyfish and salps, once thought to be the primary prey of sunfish, make up only 15% of a sunfish's diet. Sunfish are generalist predators that consume largely small fish, fish larvae, squid, and crustaceans. Sunfish can be as tall as they are long when their dorsal and ventral fins are extended. It resembles a fish head without a tail, and its main body is flattened laterally.

The species is native to tropical and temperate waters around the world. Adults typically weigh between 247 and 1,000 kg (545 and 2,205 lb). It was misidentified as the heaviest bony fish, which was actually a different species, Mola alexandrini. The ocean sunfish or common mola ( Mola mola) is one of the largest bony fish in the world.

Sims 4 skeleton skin