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Tetraodontiformes (Puffers and filefishes) >
Molidae (Molas or Ocean Sunfishes)
Etymology: Mola: Latin, mola, -ae = stone mill; because of the shape of this fish (Ref. 45335).
Eponymy: Antonio Alessandrini (1786–1861) was an Italian physician and anatomist, (Ranzini latinized his name). [...] (Ref. 128868), visit book page.
Milieu: milieu / Klimaatzone / Diepte / verspreidingsgebied
Ecologie
marien pelagic-oceanic; diepte 0 - 480 m (Ref. 106682). Subtropical
Circumglobal: widely distributed in the world’s oceans except for the polar regions.
Grootte / Gewicht / Leeftijd
Maturiteit: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 330 cm TL mannelijk / geslacht onbekend; (Ref. 132224); max. gepubliceerd gewicht: 2.3 t (Ref. 117083)
This species is distinguished from its congeners by the following characters: head profile with bump (specimens >162.5 cm TL); chin with enlarged bump (>135.0 cm TL); rectangular body scales on the middle region of the body (shape developing with age, final shape not established on specimens <70.0 cm TL, but established on those >162.5 cm TL; rounded clavus (usually not wavy and without indents), supported by 14-24 (mode 17) clavus fn rays and 8-15 (12) ossicles (Ref. 117083).
Body shape (shape guide): short and / or deep; Cross section: compressed.
This species is presumed to prefer warmer water temperatures than Mola mola (in Sanriku coast of Japan, this species occur at sea surface temperatures of 16.8-25.6°C, average 19.9°C (vs. 11.5-25.6°C, average 17.7°C when Mola mola appeared in the area). The maximum recorded weight of 2,300 kg applies to a 272 cm TL female caught off the coast of Kamogawa, Japan by a set net (Ref. 117083).
Levenscyclus en paargedrag
Maturiteit | Voortplanting | Paaien | Eieren | Fecunditeit | Larven
Heemstra, P.C., 1986. Molidae. p. 907-908. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. (Ref. 4424)
Status op de Rode Lijst van het IUCN (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2 (Global))
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Harmless
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Fylogenetische diversiteitsindex (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.6562 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.02291 (0.01113 - 0.04716), b=3.06 (2.87 - 3.25), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref.
93245).
Trofisch niveau (Ref.
69278): 3.8 ±0.6 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Kwetsbaarheid van de visserij (Ref.
59153): Very high vulnerability (90 of 100).
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