Giant sunfish
Species of fish / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The giant sunfish or bumphead sunfish (Mola alexandrini),[3] (also known as the Ramsay's sunfish, southern sunfish, southern ocean sunfish, short sunfish or bump-head sunfish in various parts of the world),[4] is a fish belonging to the family Molidae. It is closely related to the more widely known Mola mola, and is found in the Southern Hemisphere.[5] With a specimen found dead near the Azores in 2021 weighing in at 2744 kg (6049 lb) it is the largest extant bony fish species in terms of maximum recorded mass by a wide margin. It can be found basking on its side occasionally near the surface, which is thought to be used to re-heat themselves after diving in cold water for prey, recharge their oxygen stores, and attract gulls to free them of parasites.[2]
Giant sunfish | |
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A giant sunfish swimming amongst a small school of pilot fish while a scuba diver looks on in the background | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Tetraodontiformes |
Family: | Molidae |
Genus: | Mola |
Species: | M. alexandrini |
Binomial name | |
Mola alexandrini | |
Synonyms | |