Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Superclassis/Classis: Actinopterygii
Classis/Subclassis: Actinopteri
Subclassis/Infraclassis: Neopterygii
Infraclassis: Teleostei
Megacohors: Osteoglossocephalai
Supercohors: Clupeocephala
Cohors: Euteleosteomorpha
Subcohors: Neoteleostei
Infracohors: Eurypterygia
Sectio: Ctenosquamata
Subsectio: Acanthomorphata
Divisio/Superordo: Acanthopterygii
Subdivisio: Percomorphaceae
Series: Eupercaria
Ordo: Tetraodontiformes
Subordo: Tetraodontoidei
Familia: Molidae
Genus: Mola
Species(3+ †1): M. mola – M. alexandrini – M. tecta – †M. pileata
Name
Mola Kölreuter, 1766
Typus: Mola aculeata Kölreuter, 1770 (=Mola mola)
Synonyms
Mola Cuvier, 1798
Orthragoriscus Bloch & Schneider, 1801
Cephalus Shaw, 1804
Orthragus Rafinesque, 1810
Diplanchias Rafinesque, 1810
Trematopsis Ranzani, 1839
Tympanomium Ranzani, 1839
Ozodura Ranzani, 1839
Molacanthus Swainson, 1839
Pallasia Nardo, 1840
Acanthosoma DeKay, 1842
Aledon Castelnau, 1861
References
Primary references
Kölreuter, I.T. 1763. Piscivm rariorvm e Mvseo Petropolitano exceptorvm descriptiones. Novi Commentarii Academiae Scientiarum Imperialis Petropolitanae 8: 404–430, pl. XIV. BHL Reference page.
Additional references
Cuvier, G. 1798. Tableau eléméntaire de l'histoire naturelle des animaux xvi + 710 pp., 14 pls. Baudouin, Paris. DOI: 10.5962/bhl.title.11203 Reference page.
Bloch, M.E. & Schneider, J.G. 1801. M.E. Blochii, Systema ichthyologiae iconibus cx illustratum. Post obitum auctoris opus inchoatum absolvit, correxit, interpolavit Jo. Gottlob Schneider, Saxo. Berolini. Sumtibus Auctoris Impressum et Bibliopolio Sanderiano Commissum. i–lx + 1–584, Pls. 1–110. BHL Reference page.
Shaw, G.K.. 1804. General zoology or systematic natural history with plates from the first authorities and select specimens. G. Kearsley, London.. 5(2):251–463.
Rafinesque-Schmaltz, C.S. 1810. Caratteri di alcuni nuovi generi e nuove specie di animali e piante della Sicilia, con varie osservazioni sopra i medisimi. Sanfilippo, Palermo. (Part 1 involves fishes, pp. [i–iv] 3–69 [70 blank], Part 2 with slightly different title, pp. ia–iva + 71–105 [106 blank]). Pls. 1–20. BHL Reference page.
Ranzani, C. 1839. Dispositio familiae Molarum in genera et in species. Novi Commentarii Academiae Scientiarum Instituti Bononiensis 3: 63–82, Pl. 6 + foldout table. BHL Reference page.
Swainson, W.J. 1839. The natural history and classification of fishes, amphibians, & reptiles, or monocardian animals. Spottiswoode & Co.: London. vol. 2: i–vi + 1–448. BHL Reference page.
Nardo G.D., 1840. Spora un nuovo genere di conchiglie de mare Adriatico. Annali delle Scienze del Regno Lombardo-Veneto. Reference page.
DeKay, J.E.. 1842. Zoology of New York; or the New York fauna; comprising detailed descriptions of all the animals hitherto observed within the state, with brief notices of those occasionally found near its borders. Natural history of New York. 4: 1–415.
Castelnau, F.L. 1861. Mémoire sur les poissons de l’Afrique australe. Paris. 1–78.
Links
Mola – Taxon details on Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
Vernacular names
English: Molas
日本語: マンボウ属
한국어: 개복치속
A sunfish, also called a mola, is any fish in the genus Mola (family Molidae). The fish develop their truncated, bullet-like shape because the back fin, which is present at birth, never grows. Instead, it folds into itself as the creature matures, creating a rounded rudder called a clavus. Mola in Latin means "millstone" and describes the ocean sunfish's somewhat circular shape. They are a silvery color and have a rough skin texture.
The mola is the heaviest of all the bony fish, with large specimens reaching 14 ft (4.3 m) vertically and 10 ft (3.0 m) horizontally, and weighing over 6,000 lb (2,700 kg).[3] Sharks and rays can be heavier, but they are cartilaginous fish.
Mola are found in temperate and tropical oceans around the world. They are frequently seen basking in the sun near the surface and are often mistaken for sharks when their huge dorsal fins emerge above the water. Their teeth are fused into a beak-like structure, and they are unable to fully close their relatively small mouths.
Ocean sunfish can become infested with skin parasites, so they will often invite small fish or even birds to feast on them. Sunfish will even breach the surface up to 10 ft (3.0 m) in the air, in an attempt to shake off the parasites.
They are clumsy swimmers[citation needed] , waggling their large dorsal and anal fins to move, and steering with their clavus. Their food of choice is jellyfish, though they will eat small fish and huge amounts of zooplankton and algae, as well. They are harmless to people, but can be very curious and will often approach divers.
Their population is considered vulnerable,[4] as they frequently are snagged in drift gill nets and can suffocate on sea trash, like plastic bags (which resemble jellyfish, their main food source).
Taxonomy
Kölreuter in 1766 published a fish name Mola but did not treat is as a Linnaean genus (i.e., not binominal), so the name is unavailable under the rules of the ICZN and cannot be used.[2] The first author who used the name Mola as a genus name was Linck in 1790, and this is therefore the oldest available name, with Tetraodon mola Linnaeus, 1758 as its type species.[2]
Species
There are currently 3 recognized extant species in this genus:[5][6]
Mola mola (Linnaeus, 1758) (Ocean sunfish)
Mola alexandrini (Giglioli, 1883) (Southern sunfish)
Mola tecta Nyegaard et al., 2017 (Hoodwinker sunfish)
†Mola pileata (extinct), Upper Miocene to Middle miocene
References
Sepkoski, J. (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 364: 560. Archived from the original on 2011-12-07.
Welter-Schultes, F.W., V. Feuerstein (2008) Nomenclatural notes on Torpedo (Chondrichthyes: Torpedinidae) and some other early established fish taxa (Actinopterygii: Molidae, Eleginopidae and Citharinidae). Species, Phylogeny and Evolution 1(3):141-145.
"'Majestic' 3-ton sunfish sets a new world record for largest bony fish ever discovered". Live Science. 14 October 2022.
"National Geographic". National Geographic. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
Matsuura, K (2014). "Taxonomy and systematics of tetraodontiform fishes: a review focusing primarily on progress in the period from 1980 to 2014". Ichthyological Research. 62 (1): 72–113. doi:10.1007/s10228-014-0444-5.
Nyegaard, Marianne; Sawai, Etsuro; Gemmell, Neil; Gillum, Joanne; Loneragan, Neil R.; Yamanoue, Yusuke; Stewart, Andrew L. (19 July 2017). "Hiding in broad daylight: molecular and morphological data reveal a new ocean sunfish species (Tetraodontiformes: Molidae) that has eluded recognition". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 182 (3): 631–658. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlx040.
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