Beautiful Fish: Sunfish -By Al Bezanson

 

Sunfish; Mola Mola

 

They appear to consist of nothing but a “huge head to which the fins are attached,” as Jordan and Evermann aptly express it.

When these unlucky vagrants are sighted in our cool northern waters they have usually been chilled into partial insensibility. They float awash on the surface, feebly fanning with one or the other fin, the personification of helplessness. Usually they pay no attention to the approach of a boat, but we have seen one come to life with surprising suddenness and sound swiftly, sculling with strong fin strokes.

The sunfish lives on an unusual diet, for as a rule the contents of the stomach consists either of jellyfish, ctenophores, or salpae

The sunfish grows to a great size. Heilner describes the capture of one 10 feet 11 inches long off Avalon (Calif.), while Jordan and Evermann record another Californian specimen 8 feet 2 inches long, weighing about 1,800 pounds.  A fish 4 feet 1 inch long, caught off Boston Harbor, August 14, 1922, weighed 516 pounds.

From Fishes of the Gulf of Maine by Bigelow and Schroeder (1953) online courtesy of MBL/WHOI  http://www.gma.org/fogm/Mola_mola.htm

 

2 thoughts on “Beautiful Fish: Sunfish -By Al Bezanson

  1. I remember see these on GMG in video lucky catch and what a sight thanks for the reminders! 🙂 Dave & Kim 🙂

    P.S. Bring out the light in the sea! 🙂

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