Ola Mool The Ocean Sunfish Or Mola Mola

759 Words2 Pages

The Ocean Sunfish or Mola mola is an interesting species. Female sunfish usually lay somewhere around 300,000,000 eggs at a time, which is more eggs than any living vertebrate, though only a few of those eggs ever hatch. A sunfish fry resembles a tiny pufferfish because of its small spines it has around it, which later disappear in adulthood. Sunfish colours vary from a light-ish brown to bright silver. There may be certain patterns on the skin, however this is pretty rare. Sunfish diet consists of mostly jellyfish or squid, though this can vary depending mostly on the size. A group of sunfish is called a school, however the sunfish usually only travels alone or with one other person.
Mola have only recently been pushed over the edge of “threatened,” …show more content…

They are inhabited by over forty different species of parasites which can cause many things, most notably irritation on the skin. They have many ways of tackling the problem, but they are risky to the fish’s health and may actually kill them if performed incorrectly. For example, they will leap out of the water and try to land straight to brush them off, but if they come down at an angle, they often collide with the water’s surface and die. Sometimes they bask in the sunlight on the surface of the water; flipping over periodically to bake the parasites off, so to speak. However, often, they fall asleep on the surface and dry up on land or get speared by bird talons. These are just a few examples of how they react to …show more content…

They have some of the most interesting ways of dying. In addition to the aforementioned leaping out of the water and sunlight, sometimes, while chasing down food, they will collide with a rock due to not being able to make sharp turns like most vertebrates can. Other times while chasing food, they will swim down way too far and freeze due to the intense cold on the ocean water. On the subject of food, sometimes they have too many squid. Their stomachs are very sensitive, so if they overdo it on any food, typically squid, they die. Sometimes they’ll mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, causing choking. Often, when they eat shrimp, sardines or small crabs, the shells, bones or claws will get stuck in their gullets, causing them to choke. Sometimes, upon seeing something like a sea turtle or anything that’s a lot bigger than it (which is rare considering how large sunfish are) it is frightened, forgets how to breathe, and dies. Though having the name “sunfish,” they are quite sensitive to the sun, if they bask for too long of come up to the surface too fast, they die. Sunfish aren’t often kept in captivity, but when foam or some other substance comes into contact with one’s eyes, it gets stressed out and dies. They have bad eyesight, especially when they stray away from any light (such as bioluminescent beings underwater or lights of

More about Ola Mool The Ocean Sunfish Or Mola Mola

Open Document