Molidae

Molidae is a family of giant ray-finned fish that include the famous ocean sunfish and others. They are part of the order Tetraodontiformes.

Ocean sunfish (Mola mola)

Description

The molas are different from other fishes. Instead, they have a large body looking like a giant fish head. They have the fewest vertebrae of any fish, with only 16 in Mola mola. Their skeleton is made of cartilage, much like a shark. They eat mushy animals like jellyfish and salps.

Genera

Extant

• Genus Masturus Gill, 1884
  • Masturus lanceolatus (Liénard, 1840 - sharptail mola
• Genus Mola Blyth, 1860
  • Mola mola Linnaeus, 1758 - ocean sunfish
  • Mola alexandrini Giglioli, 1883 - giant sunfish
  • Mola tecta Nyegaard et al., 2017 - hoodwinker sunfish
• Genus Ranzania Nardo, 1840
  • Ranzania laevis Pennant, 1776 - slender sunfish

Extinct

• Eomola bimaxillaria
• Austromola angerhoferi

The Hoodwinker Sunfish

References

1. Tyler, James C.; Bannikov, Alexandre F. (1992). "New genus of primitive ocean sunfish with separate premaxillae from the Eocene of Southwest Russia (Molidae, Tetraodontiformes)". Copeia. 1992 (4).
2. "World's heaviest bony fish identified and correctly named". Springer.com. Retrieved 1 March 2019.