Sunfish – Information and Characteristics

Did you know that there is a fish called Mole? It is the Moonfish, which is enigmatic and not much is known about it yet, but what is glimpsed and known so far shows that it is a fascinating specimen that lives in its space without wanting to be disturbed. Do you want to know more?

The sunfish lives in the open sea, in the water column that is not located on the continental surface, so it becomes part of the fish that make up the pelagic family, which are found in total freedom in this oceanic part.

At first glance, the sunfish is the heaviest fish due to its large size at the risk of appearing atrocious and dangerous, far from that it appears as a harmless vertebrate with a very small brain despite its great appearance.

It usually feeds on plankton and crustaceans that are a delicacy for this enormous fish, in addition to living alone, so it has not been glimpsed that they are very familiar or that the male and female stay together after mating.

It is known that a two-ton sunfish has been found, being the heaviest specimen found on earth and due to its rarity it is in danger of extinction along with other animals, which has made it the focus of conservationists’ attention due to its rarity.

The name mole means mill wheel, which gives the name to the appearance of the separate specimen that has a moon shape, which specifies that it has been given that name as well, all thanks to the physical appearance that this fish presents.

What do you need:

• Sunfish is considered poisonous to humans, yet its meat is marketed in western parts of the world as a delicacy.
• It has an oval shape and is flat are two of its main characteristics.
• Normally you can see some of them in a zoo, but it is not very frequent due to the care they need.
• Sunfish are commonly found around the world in the Indian, Pacific, Atlantic, and Mediterranean oceans.
• It has a rather solitary personality, so it is common to find one alone and separated from the others.
• Sunfish usually bask on the surface of the water to increase their temperature if they have entered cold water at some point.
• It uses its fins to deworm itself and due to the nature of its skin it has few predators that consume it.
• When they go up to the surface to deworm themselves, the birds usually clean them of them, a custom that allows them to remove the parasites.
• It usually migrates to higher parts of the ocean in search of food during the warmer months.
• Despite having few carnivorous fish after its meat, it usually gets entangled in fishermen’s nets by accident, although it is also caught to trade its highly prized meat in the East.
•  It does not have scales, but it does have a hard and resistant skin with elastic mucus that covers it.
• When touched, a rustic skin is felt in addition to presenting colors between brown and gray or silvery white.
• The females of this species can have more than 300 million eggs. An exorbitant number. Although not all reach adulthood.

Instructions

The sunfish lives in calm, warm waters of the tropics throughout the world, having a shape similar to that of a human head with fins on the sides, despite all this it is flat, measuring  about 3 meters and weighing more than 1000 kilos , presenting an oval shape.

The name of the sunfish is due to the fact that it has a skin without scales, smooth covered with a rough mucus with colors ranging from gray, brown or silvery gray similar to that of the moon, despite this there are also fish of this species that have white belly.

It has no nerves, as well as few vertebrae compared to other fish. Its dorsal fins are huge in addition to having anal fins and a pectoral fin, being that it has a tail which it uses to be able to drive on the sea surface with a certain speed despite its weight.

The places where sunfish can commonly be found can be in Indonesia, Africa, New Zealand and the United States, with submerged corals being the preferred sites to stay in the depths of the oceans.

The sunfish usually swims in calm and warm waters, which makes it a fish that is usually below the tropics, but in some crossing a sunfish deviates a lot and enters colder waters, it can get confused and lose what That would lead to certain death.

Despite this, it swims very fast and the defense it has against its predators is to dive into deep waters where it will not be reached by its predators and the hard and mucous skin it has, which despite this is usually eaten by the sea lions that they tend to stalk him.

More about the sunfish

1. The sunfish does not have a tail, but it does have a fin that it uses to move around the ocean quickly, without being fast due to its large size, which also gives it that balloon-shaped appearance similar to the moon.
2. It has a flattened body with quite small pectoral fins forming a ring, which gives it a more elongated appearance towards the sides, despite the fact that the dorsal fins are longer, managing to see the same length and height.
3. The sunfish has a shorter and smaller spine than other fish, despite its enormous size, in addition to having a very small brain the size of an almond or smaller than the volume of its kidneys, which are also reduced.
4. The mouth of the sunfish is considerably large, with a row of teeth resembling the beak of a fairly rough parrot and for gills it has only two holes as if it were a nose, which gives it a strange and mysterious appearance.
5. It feeds on other marine animals that are gelatinous such as jellyfish, presenting the difficulty that due to its enormous mass; it must supplement its diet with abundant prey in order to fill its stomach.
6. It is not yet known for sure how long they can live in freedom, but in captive zoos they usually have an advanced age of up to 10 years, one of the mysteries that remain to be known about this enormous fish.
7. They are usually victims of different fish when they are still small, such as tuna. As the sunfish grows it becomes robust and immense and only has to get away from more predators such as sharks or sea lions, although whales also often feed on them.
8. It is not yet known how sunfish mate, but it is known that the little ones come out of the egg and are extremely small, a contradiction according to the size they manage to have when they grow and become adults.
9. When they grow, elongated spines usually appear when they are fry, another great mystery that this fish has, which are hidden when they reach adulthood; there are many things that remain to be learned from this fish, while we have to settle for the splendor of its appearance.
10. As previously stated, not much is known about the reproduction of the mole fish, so there is still much research to be done about it, only that the female lays her eggs in the warmer seas and the sperm fertilize them in the water.
11. Despite being solitary, sunfish usually live in a school during the stage in which they are fry, since this way of cooperation will give them the opportunity to survive and reach adulthood, that is, for protection to launch themselves alone into the open waters.
12. Do not be scared by the size of this fish, since although it is huge, it is submissive and you can swim with it in a calm way, which is why everything related to the sunfish has been studied through interaction with the humans.
13. Despite all this, constant research has been carried out on the habitat, the population, possible migrations, and their reproduction in order to have more knowledge about this interesting fish that has left more questions than answers.
14. Some of the care that must be taken into account is to have a large enough tank so that it can be moved around the place, water temperature according to what it is used to, let it rise to the surface to deworm itself and feed it manually.
15. On the other hand, if it is kept together with other fish in an aquarium, special care must be taken to prevent it from being eaten, especially if there is a shark in the tank, which is one of the staunchest enemies and predator of fish. Moon.

Tips

• Sunfish meat is considered a delicacy in Japan, so if you visit that country you should visit a restaurant where they serve this fish.
• In Europe, the sunfish is not yet available as a specimen for food since the sale of its meat is prohibited, which must be kept in mind.
• It’s a big fish with a small brain, which means lots of muscles and nothing to think with, don’t you think so?
• It usually swims on the surface and when performing this movement it can be confused with a shark, which you must take into account and not confuse them.
• Their character has led them to become familiar with the divers who have found some sunfish on their journey, even joining them, so it is not dangerous.
• If you have a boat, and you find a sunfish, do not include it as a crew, since it can damage it due to the weight.
• In some months you can see a sunfish near the Mediterranean coast when it comes out to sunbathe so you can go there to see if you see one of these marine specimens.
• The resemblance to a manta ray is important, although the mantas are usually more elegant and beautiful and the sunfish is coarser although flattened just the same.
• It is good to have knowledge about this type of fish so that when you come across one of them you can be prepared and not be scared by its large size.