Mola Mola are weird, but also interesting.
- Thread starter Evan B
- Start date
Dustin Chromers
Legend
To be fair I see this survival strategy in full effect walking in and out of the Aberdeen Walmart. There's lots of them so it must be successful as a strategy. The fish too.
I love sunfish/mola mola! I spent a decent chunk of my time as a kid fishing offshore on my father’s sportfisher. We used to see sunfish pretty frequently off Southern California, Mexico. I would get really excited thinking I had spotted a shark and my dad would glass it and say “sunfish.” Sometimes he’d run us up for a closer look. For those who haven’t seen one in person they can get really really big and they have kind of a gentle vibe to them that I always thought was cool. I find it odd that people would hate on them. Feels like punching down.
I think this would have been an interesting video, however, his high energy presentation was a bit much for me right now.
I do agree Mola Mola are an interesting fish. I did get to the part where they dive deep, very deep, but turned it off after that. To much energy...
I do agree Mola Mola are an interesting fish. I did get to the part where they dive deep, very deep, but turned it off after that. To much energy...
What can I say to that...
I have seen several Mola's from my boat when I lived in Hawaii...and have heard of ridiculous stories of someone trying to register a tippet record by casting a fly and hooking it near the mouth, then leaning over the gunnel to remove the fly in a "catch and release" scenario...
They are a strange looking fish...like a giant head swimming in the ocean...
volume off, closed captioning on.
Another child left behind....
Steve
Jim in Anacortes
Life of the Party
The first time I saw one of these fish underwater I was diving a California kelp bed in about eight foot of visibility. I looked up to see this huge eye, attached to a giant head. I truly believed that I was seeing a massive sea monster. Then the "head" swam past and I realized that that was all there was to the "monster". I was expecting a proportional body to be behind the head. That is one dive I will never forget.
Jim in Anacortes
Life of the Party
I used to see the gill netters unload them with other fish , but only as a by catch because the "yield" was such a small percentage of the gross weight. After watching the video of them being processed and prepared I assume that they are finding their way into the "foody" seafood scene. I like that. A simply beautiful fish, the biggest on Earth...I am sad to say that I have never eaten one.
Several other interesting aspects of their biology. 1) The first ocean sunfishes were described with the scientific name Mola mola in the late 18th century. The word "mola" is derived from the Latin word for millstone due to its round body and its sandpaper-like skin due to mineralized dermal denticles. In recent years, subtle differences in morphology and genetic differences have led to the description of three living species in the genus Mola plus the sharptail mola in a separate genus and species (Masturus lanceolatus).
2) The molas belong to the fish order Tetradontiformes with about 430 total species. This is a strange group. The Tetradontiformes includes such diverse fish groups as filefish, triggerfish, pufferfish, porcupine fish, and boxfish. All of these fishes have unusually-shaped bodies and jaws fused to form a beak. Most species, including the ocean sunfish, swim powered primarily by movement of the paired fins and oar-like sculling movements of the dorsal and anal without the ability to bend the body laterally. An exception are the triggerfish which can bend their bodies laterally when they need speed but otherwise chose undulations of their dorsal and anal fins for precise slow movements.
Steve
2) The molas belong to the fish order Tetradontiformes with about 430 total species. This is a strange group. The Tetradontiformes includes such diverse fish groups as filefish, triggerfish, pufferfish, porcupine fish, and boxfish. All of these fishes have unusually-shaped bodies and jaws fused to form a beak. Most species, including the ocean sunfish, swim powered primarily by movement of the paired fins and oar-like sculling movements of the dorsal and anal without the ability to bend the body laterally. An exception are the triggerfish which can bend their bodies laterally when they need speed but otherwise chose undulations of their dorsal and anal fins for precise slow movements.
Steve
I saw my first and only one off Kailua Kona in the mid ‘70’s.
You give an accurate description of them. Strange looking critters!
Plus you want to be careful about what you eat on these guys. Beware of the Sea Weather-Cock and the Cuckold-fish.
Came across a sunfish in Wellfleet bay October one year. The flip flop swim was really fascinating...I was in a kayak and interesting to paddle up close
here's a @DimeBrite challenge, one of each of these guys, on the fly, with trip details, 21 fish. Consider it a fishing equivalent of a "big year" birding, but for Tetrodons...
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Minor correction: the "sunfish" found off the coast of Massachusetts are actually "baby f*ckin wheel(s), Jay!"