Mola mola, Ocean sunfish : fisheries

Mola mola (Linnaeus, 1758)

Ocean sunfish
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Mola mola   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Mola mola (Ocean sunfish)
Mola mola
Immagine di Zuberbuhler, T.

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> Tetraodontiformes (Puffers and filefishes) > Molidae (Molas or Ocean Sunfishes)
Etymology: Mola: Latin, mola, -ae = stone mill; because of the shape of this fish (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Linnaeus.

Ambiente: milieu / zona climatica / distribuzione batimetrica / gamma di distribuzione Ecologia

marino pelagic-oceanic; oceanodromo (Ref. 138310); distribuzione batimetrica 30 - 1515 m (Ref. 86942), usually 30 - 70 m (Ref. 90102). Subtropical; 12°C - 25°C (Ref. 37040); 75°N - 65°S, 180°W - 180°E

Distribuzione Territories | Aree FAO | Ecosistemi | Presenze | Mappa dei ritrovamenti | Introduzioni | Faunafri

Circumglobal: tropical and temperate zones of all oceans.

Dimensione / Peso / Età

Maturità: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 333 cm TL maschio/sesso non determinato; (Ref. 26340); peso massimo pubblicato: 1.3 t (Ref. 132224)

Breve descrizione Chiavi di identificazione | Morfologia | Morfometria

Spine dorsali (totale) : 0; Raggi dorsali molli (totale) : 15 - 18; Spine anali: 0; Raggi anali molli: 14 - 17. The scaleless body is covered with extremely thick, elastic skin. The caudal fin is replaced by a rudder-like structure called 'clavus'. Dorsal and anal fins very high with short base; in swimming, these fins are flapped synchronously from side to side and can propel the fish at surprisingly good speed. Pectorals small and rounded, directed upward (Ref. 6885). Mouth very small; teeth fused to form a parrot-like beak. Gills 4, a slit behind the last; gill openings reduced to a small hole at the base of the pectoral fins. Gas bladder absent in adults.
Body shape (shape guide): short and / or deep; Cross section: oval.

Biologia     Glossario (es. epibenthic)

Molas are distinguished for their distinct morphological characters which include reduced/fused caudal elements, presence of a clavus in place of the caudal fin, absence of a swim bladder and a degenerate, cartilaginous skeleton (Ref. 86435). Adults are found on slopes adjacent to deep water where they come in for shelter and for seeking cleaner fishes. They are usually shy. However, they may become familiar with divers in some locations (Ref. 48637). Individuals often drift at the surface while lying on its side but can swim actively and are capable of directional movements otherwise (Ref. 86435). They swim upright and close to the surface. The dorsal fin often protrudes above the water. Females are larger than males (Ref. 86435). This species has been filmed in 480 m depth with the help of a camera equipped with baits (Lis Maclaren, pers. comm. 2005). Adults eat fishes, mollusks, zooplankton, jellyfish, crustaceans and brittle stars (Ref. 4925, 5951, 48637). A live colony of the cirripede Lepas anatifera were found attached to the anterior portion of the sunfish's esophagus that was stranded in the south coast of Terceira Island, Azores Archipelago in 2004. This association has apparent advantages for the goose barnacles such as a regular intake of food and protection both from hydrodynamic hazards and from predators: but for the sunfish, it is not clear whether it is neutral, of advantage or causes feeding problems since the attachment may obstruct the sunfish's esophagus (Ref. 55063). The sunfish is registered as the heaviest bony fish and as the one with the most eggs in the Guinness Book of World Records (Ref. 6472). Generally this species is not used as food fish; some people consider it as a delicacy (Ref. 30573). The fish can be utilized fresh and can be broiled (Ref. 9988). Some parts of the fish are used in Chinese medicine (Ref. 12166). Molas may contain the same toxin as puffers and porcupine fish (Ref. 13513). They do not adapt well in captivity (Ref. 12382, 37040). Juveniles are victims of California sea lions in Monterey Bay (Ref. 37040).

Ciclo vitale e comportamento di accoppiamento Maturità | Riproduzione | Deposizione | Uova | Fecondità | Larve

Produces very numerous and small eggs; 300 million eggs found in a 1.5 m long female (Ref. 4711). Oocytes in the ovaries develop in different stages suggesting Mola mola as a multiple spawner (Ref. 86440). This is the largest clutch estimate for this species (Ref. 53596).

Riferimento principale Caricare le referenze | Bibliografia | Coordinatore | Collaboratori

Tortonese, E., 1990. Molidae. p. 1077-1079. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 2. (Ref. 6952)

Stato della Lista Rossa IUCN (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2 (Global))

  Vulnerabile (VU) (A4bd); Date assessed: 07 June 2011

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Minaccia per l'uomo

  Poisonous to eat (Ref. 13513)





Usi umani

Pesca: scarso interesse commerciale
FAO - pesca: landings search; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

Informazioni ulteriori

Ecologia trofica
Articoli alimentari (prede)
Alimentazione
Consumo di cibo
Razioni alimentari
Predatori
Ecologia
Ecologia
Dinamica della popolazione
Parametri di crescita
Età massima / dimensioni massime
Rapporto lunghezza-peso.
Lunghezza-lunghezza rel.
Lunghezza-frequenze
Conversione di massa
Reclutamento
Abbondanza
Ciclo di vita
Riproduzione
Maturità
Maturità/Gli occhielli sono relativi.
Fecondità
Deposizione
Aggregazioni riproduttive
Uova
Sviluppo delle uova
Larve
Dinamica popolazioni larvali
Distribuzione
Territories
Aree FAO
Ecosistemi
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Introduzioni
BRUVS - Video
Anatomia
Area branchiale
Cervello
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Fisiologia
Composizione corporea
Nutrienti
Consumo di ossigeno
Tipo di nuoto
Velocità di nuoto
Pigmenti visivi
Suono del pesce
Malattie e parassiti
Tossicità (LC50)
Genetica
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Genetica
Eterozigosi
Ereditarietà
Diversità genetica
Legato all'uomo
Sistemi di acquacoltura
Profili di acquacoltura
Varietà
Casi di Ciguatera
Francobolli, monete, materiale vario.
Raggiungimento
Collaboratori
Tassonomia
Nomi Comuni
Sinonimi
Morfologia
Morfometria
Immagini
Bibliografia
Bibliografia

Strumenti

Quiz organico | Libro elettronico | Giuda pratica | Chiavi di identificazione | Generatore frequenze di lunghezza | Strumento Parametri Biologici | Mappa dei ritrovamenti | Cattura-MSY |

Rapporti speciali

Controllo della manutenzione dell'acquario | Verificare la presenza di schede informative sulle specie | Verifica delle schede informative sull'acquacoltura

Scarica XML

Pagina riassuntiva | Dati puntuali | Nomi Comuni | foto

Fonti Internet

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: Genere, Specie | DiscoverLife | DORIS | ECOTOX | FAO - pesca: landings search; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | Database Nazionali | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Acquari pubblici | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, ricerca | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Record zoologico

Stime basate su modelli

Indice di diversità filogenetica
(Fonte Biblio. 82804) 		PD50 = 0.6562 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight a=0.03548 (0.02046 - 0.06153), b=3.06 (2.90 - 3.22), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Livello trofico
(Fonte Biblio. 69278) 		3.1   ±0.41 se; based on food items.
Generation time 7.4 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1 growth studies.
Resilienza
(Fonte Biblio. 120179) 		Basso, tempo minimo di raddoppiamento della popolazione 4.5 - 14 anni (K=0.49-0.3; tmax assumed > 15; Fec=300 million (batch fecundity)).
Vulnerabilità della pesca
(Ref. 59153) 		High to very high vulnerability (67 of 100). 🛈
Vulnerabilità climatica
(Ref. 125649) 		Moderate vulnerability (43 of 100). 🛈
Categoria di prezzo
(Ref. 80766) 		Unknown.
Nutrienti
(Ref. 124155) 		Calcium = 19.4 [7.7, 46.5] mg/100g; Iron = 0.967 [0.481, 2.428] mg/100g; Protein = 18.7 [16.3, 21.0] %; Omega3 = 0.248 [0.113, 0.569] g/100g; Selenium = 57.6 [22.6, 165.5] μg/100g; VitaminA = 3.53 [0.76, 16.47] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.381 [0.234, 0.617] mg/100g (wet weight);