The ocean sunfish or common mola,Mola mola, is the heaviest known bony fish in the world. It has an average adult weight of 1,000 kg (2,200 lb). Thespecies is native to tropical andtemperate waters around the globe. It resembles a fish head with a tail, and its main body is flattened laterally. Sunfish can be as tall as they are long when their dorsal and ventral fins are extended.
Sunfish live on a diet consisting mainly of jellyfish, but because this diet is nutritionally poor, they consume large amounts to develop and maintain their great bulk. Females of the species can produce more eggs than any other known vertebrate, up to 300,000,000 at a time.Sunfish fry resemble miniature pufferfish, with large pectoral fins, a tail fin, and body spines uncharacteristic of adult sunfish.
Adult sunfish are vulnerable to few natural predators, but sea lions, killer whales, and sharks will consume them. Among humans, sunfish are considered a delicacy in some parts of the world, including Japan, Korea, andTaiwan. In the EU, regulations ban the sale of fish and fishery products derived of the Molidae family. Sunfish are frequently caught in gillnets.
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