What Kind of Fish Is the Ocean Sunfish? Get to Know the Ocean Sunfish

The ocean sunfish, also known as the sunfish, mambo fish, or head fish, is the collective name for 3 species of oceanic fish in the family Molidae under the class Osteichthyes, namely the ocean sunfish, the slender sunfish, and the sharptail mola. It inhabits tropical and subtropical oceans of the world and is also found in temperate or cold oceans. It is produced along the coasts of China. Let us take a look below at what kind of fish the ocean sunfish is!

What kind of fish is the ocean sunfish?

The ocean sunfish is a large oceanic fish, with a maximum body length of up to 3.0 to 5.5 m and a weight of 1400 to 3500 kg. It swims alone or in pairs, sometimes in groups of more than ten. Smaller individuals are more active and often leap out of the water, while larger individuals move slowly, often lying on their side at the surface, or with the dorsal fin exposed above the water. It can also dive into water more than a hundred meters deep, feeding on seaweed, mollusks, jellyfish, planktonic crustaceans, and small fish. The ocean sunfish has the largest number of eggs among fish, with an extremely high fecundity, reaching up to 300 million eggs. The young fish are covered with wart-like spines, which gradually disappear with age, and the body becomes oval.

Why is the ocean sunfish called the ocean sunfish?

The mambo fish was originally called the ocean sunfish in Taiwan, China, because fishermen often saw it lying on its side at the surface as if sunbathing, and used the name “ocean sunfish” to describe it. When the weather is good, the ocean sunfish raises its dorsal fin above the water like a sail and drifts with the current, sunbathing to raise its body temperature. When the weather turns bad, it flattens its body and floats level at the surface, using its dorsal fin and anal fin to paddle and control direction. It can also use its dorsal fin to somersault in the sea and dive to the seabed.

Why is the ocean sunfish not extinct?

The ocean sunfish is both clumsy and poor at swimming, and is often eaten by other fish and marine mammals in the ocean. The reason it has not become extinct is its powerful reproductive capacity. A single female can lay about 25 million to 300 million eggs at a time, but only about 30 survive to the breeding season. When the breeding season arrives, the male chooses an ideal spot on the seabed, uses its pectoral fins and tail to dig away sand and mud, and builds a concave “spawning bed” to lure the female into the “spawning bed” to lay eggs. After the female lays the eggs, she swims away. At this point, the male quickly releases sperm over the eggs, and from then on takes on the duty of protecting the eggs and raising the young until the young fish grow up.

Are the claims about how ocean sunfish die true?

As for the claims that ocean sunfish die from “excessive stress” and “too great a shock,” the scientific community has no reports on this. Moreover, the ocean sunfish is a relatively long-lived fish, and growing to 3 m in length takes at least 20 years. So leaving aside whether the ocean sunfish can feel “emotional stress” and “too great a shock,” for such a long-lived fish, a certain “psychological tolerance” should still be present. As for “air bubbles entering the eyes,” this is actually a problem that will not occur. When diving, the eyes of the ocean sunfish are completely exposed to water; during “sunbathing,” one eye may be completely exposed to air, and the ocean sunfish has no eyelids, so there is also no space for bubbles to remain. As for the true cause of death of the ocean sunfish, it may still be related to humans.