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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).
Eponymy: Antonio Alessandrini (1786–1861) was an Italian physician and anatomist, (Ranzini latinized his name). [...] (Ref. 128868), visit book page.
Environnement : milieu / zone climatique / profondeur / gamme de distribution
Écologie
marin pelagic-oceanic; profondeur 0 - 480 m (Ref. 106682). Subtropical
Circumglobal: widely distributed in the world’s oceans except for the polar regions.
Taille / Poids / Âge
Maturité: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 330 cm TL mâle / non sexé; (Ref. 132224); poids max. publié: 2.3 t (Ref. 117083)
This species is distinguished from its congeners by the following characters: head profile with bump (specimens >162.5 cm TL); chin with enlarged bump (>135.0 cm TL); rectangular body scales on the middle region of the body (shape developing with age, final shape not established on specimens <70.0 cm TL, but established on those >162.5 cm TL; rounded clavus (usually not wavy and without indents), supported by 14-24 (mode 17) clavus fn rays and 8-15 (12) ossicles (Ref. 117083).
Body shape (shape guide): short and / or deep; Cross section: compressed.
This species is presumed to prefer warmer water temperatures than Mola mola (in Sanriku coast of Japan, this species occur at sea surface temperatures of 16.8-25.6°C, average 19.9°C (vs. 11.5-25.6°C, average 17.7°C when Mola mola appeared in the area). The maximum recorded weight of 2,300 kg applies to a 272 cm TL female caught off the coast of Kamogawa, Japan by a set net (Ref. 117083).
Cycle de vie et comportement reproducteur
Maturité | Reproduction | Frai | Œufs | Fécondité | Larves
Heemstra, P.C., 1986. Molidae. p. 907-908. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. (Ref. 4424)
Statut dans la liste rouge de l'IUCN (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2 (Global))
Menace pour l'homme
Harmless
Utilisations par l'homme
Outils
Articles particuliers
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Sources Internet
Estimations basées sur des modèles
Indice de diversité phylogénétique (Réf. 82804) |
PD50 = 0.6562 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high]. |
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Bayesian length-weight
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a=0.02291 (0.01103 - 0.04759), b=3.06 (2.86 - 3.26), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245). |
Niveau trophique (Réf. 69278) |
3.8 ±0.6 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives |
Vulnérabilité de la pêche (Ref. 59153) |
Very high vulnerability (82 of 100). 🛈 |