The moon fish is a giant with the smallest brain in the world. Common sunfish or mola mola: photo and description Mola fish

When you meet this fish in the ocean, you can be seriously scared. Of course, a colossus 3-5 meters long and weighing several tons is capable of inspiring fear with its size and completely implausible appearance.

In fact, the sunfish is completely harmless, because it feeds on jellyfish, ctenophores, small fish, crustaceans and other zooplankton, which, unfortunately, happen to be next to it. This fish does not know how to maneuver and swim quickly in pursuit of prey, but only sucks into its mouth-beak everything edible that happens to be nearby.

Because of its rounded outline, in many languages ​​of the world it is unusual creature called moonfish, or sunfish, due to its habit of basking in the sun while swimming on the surface. The translation of the German name means “floating head”, the Polish one means “lonely head”, and the Chinese call this fish an “overturned car”. In Latin, the most numerous genus of these fish is called mola, which means “millstone”. The fish earned this name not only by its body shape, but also by its grey, rough skin.

Sunfishes belong to the order Pufferfishes, which includes pufferfishes and urchinfishes, with which they have much in common. First of all, these are four fused front teeth that form a characteristic non-closing beak, which gave Latin name order - Tetraodontiformes (four-toothed). The family of moonfish, or moonfish, (Molidae) is united by the unusual appearance of these millstone-like animals. It seems that at the dawn of evolution, someone bit off the back of the fish’s body just behind the dorsal and anal fins, and they survived and gave birth to equally strange offspring.

Indeed, representatives of this family have fewer vertebrae than other bony fish, for example, the species mola mola - there are only 16 of them, the pelvic girdle is completely reduced, the caudal fin is absent, and instead there is a tuberous pseudo-tail. The family Molidae includes three genera and five species of sunfish:

Sharptail sunfish, Sharptail mola, Masturus lanceolatus
Masturus oxyuropterus

Ocean sunfish, Mola mola
Southern sunfish, Mola ramsayi

Slender sunfish, Slender sunfish, Ranzania laevis.

Almost all members of the sunfish family live in tropical, subtropical, and sometimes temperate waters. They all reach large sizes and have a rounded, laterally compressed shape of the head and body. They have rough skin, no tail bones, and a skeleton made mostly of cartilage. Sunfishes do not have bony plates in their skin, but the skin itself is thick and dense, like cartilage. They are painted in brown, silver-gray, white, sometimes with patterns. These fish lack a swim bladder, which disappears in the early stages of larval development.

Sunfish are the largest of the bony fish. The largest mola mola measured was 3.3 m long and weighed 2.3 tons. There are reports that fish were caught that reached a length of more than five meters. In the process of development from larvae to adults, all sunfish go through several stages of development, and all forms are completely different from each other. The larvae that hatch from the eggs resemble pufferfish, then wide bony plates appear on the body of the grown larvae, which are subsequently preserved only in fish of the genus Ranzania; in the mole and masturus, the protrusions on the plates gradually turn into sharp long spines, which then disappear. The caudal fin and swim bladder gradually disappear, and the teeth merge into a single plate.

Moonfish - (lat. Mola mola), translated from Latin as millstone. This fish can be more than three meters long and weigh about one and a half tons. The largest specimen of the sunfish was caught in New Hampshire, USA. Its length was five and a half meters, there is no data on weight. The shape of the fish’s body resembles a disk; it was this feature that gave rise to the Latin name.

The most studied are the moonfish of the genus Mola. Fish of the genus Masturus are very similar to mola mola, but they have an elongated pseudo-tail and the eyes are more forward. There was an opinion that these fish are anomalous mola, which retained a larval tail, but studies have shown that during the growth of the fish, the rays of the pseudo-tail appear after the reduction of the larval one. Somewhat different from other sunfish are representatives of the genus Ranzania, which reach a small size of 1 m and have a flatter and elongated body shape.

All moonfish use very long and narrow anal and dorsal fins when moving, flapping them like a bird's wings, while small pectoral fins serve as stabilizers. To steer, fish spit a strong stream of water from their mouths or gills. Despite their love to bask in the sun, sunfish live at a respectable depth of several hundred and sometimes thousands of meters.

It is reported that sunfish can produce sounds by rubbing their pharyngeal teeth, which are long and claw-like.

In 1908, this moonfish was caught 65 kilometers off the coast of Sydney; it became entangled in the propellers of the steamship Fiona, which is why the ship was unable to move further. At that time it was the largest specimen of the moon fish caught, it reached a length of 3.1 m and a width of 4.1 m. Photo: danmeth

Sunfish are record holders for the number of eggs laid; one female is capable of laying several hundred million eggs. Despite this fecundity, the number of these extraordinary fish is declining. Except natural enemies, which prey on larvae and adults, the population of sunfish is threatened by humans: in many Asian countries they are considered medicinal and large-scale catching is carried out, although there is information that the meat of these fish contains toxins, like urchinfish and pufferfish, and in internal organs contain the poison tetrodotoxin, just like puffer fish.

The moon fish has thick skin. It is elastic, and its surface is covered with small bony projections. The larvae of fish of this species and young individuals swim in the usual way. Adults large fish swim on their sides, quietly moving their fins. They seem to lie on the surface of the water, where they are very easy to notice and catch. However, many experts believe that only sick fish swim this way. As an argument, they cite the fact that the stomach of fish caught on the surface is usually empty.

Compared to other fish, the sunfish is a poor swimmer. She is unable to fight the current and often floats at the will of the waves, without a goal. This is observed by sailors, noticing the dorsal fin of this clumsy fish.

In the Atlantic Ocean, the moonfish can reach Great Britain and Iceland, the coast of Norway, and even go further north. In the Pacific Ocean in summer you can see moonfish in the Sea of ​​Japan, more often in the northern part, and near the Kuril Islands.

Although the moonfish looks quite menacing due to its impressive size, it is not scary to humans. However, there are many signs among sailors South Africa who interpret the appearance of this fish as a sign of trouble. This is probably due to the fact that the sunfish approaches the shore only before the weather worsens. The sailors associate the appearance of the fish with an approaching storm and rush to return to shore. Such superstitions also arise due to unusual looking fish and its swimming method.

Scientific classification:
Domain: Eukaryotes
Kingdom: Animals
Type: Chordates
Class: Ray-finned fish
Squad: Pufferfish
Family: Moonfish (lat. Molidae (Bonaparte, 1832))

Moon fish are amazing and little-studied creatures, striking in their size, appearance and colossal fertility. They belong to a tiny family of only three species: the common sunfish, the sharp-tailed moonfish and the sunfish. This family belongs to the order Pufferfish and is related to species such as triggerfish, puffer fish and pufferfish.

Common sunfish (Mola mola).

The moon fish owes its name to its unusual body shape. The most famous common sunfish it is almost round, in the ransania and sharp-tailed moonfish it is slightly elongated and resembles a melon or torpedo. At the same time, the body is flattened from the sides, but does not differ in grace. The edges of the body appear torn and resemble a failed pancake. All languages ​​of the world in one way or another contain a reference to this unusual feature. In the majority European languages these creatures are called moon-fish or sun-fish, the Latin name of the species is translated as “millstone”, and in Polish language this fish is called "self-head" because it seems as if it consists of only one giant head. The body of the moon fish is indeed greatly shortened, but the most surprising thing is that it lacks main body movements - tail! It is replaced by a blade, devoid of its own muscular system. The body of moonfish appears high due to the highly developed oval-pointed dorsal and anal fins. Pectoral fins On the contrary, they are very small. The eyes are relatively large with a good-natured, stupid expression. The mouth of these fish is also relatively small; sharp teeth form something like jaws, but are not suitable for chewing hard objects. The skin is very thick, rough to the touch due to the bony plates that dot it, but at the same time elastic.

Although Moon Pisces does not shine with beauty and grace, they cannot fail to inspire admiration. The fact is that these are the largest of all bony fish, second in size only to whale shark(cartilaginous fish). The usual size of an adult is 2-3 m in height (since they are longer vertically than horizontally), weight is about 1 ton. The Guinness Book of Records records a sunfish measuring 4.2 m and weighing 2.3 tons! The only “dwarf” in this family is the knapsack, only 80 cm long. The coloring of these creatures also emphasizes their resemblance to the moon or millstones. It is gray, sometimes with whitish spots on the sides. Interestingly, moon fish are able to change color slightly: from slate gray to almost white. These fish do not have sexual dimorphism, so males and females do not differ from each other in appearance.

The sunfish's mouth appears tiny in proportion to its huge body.

Due to the lack of a tail, moonfish are forced to move with the help of fins (in most fish they serve only as rudders), but this method of movement is very ineffective. Making leisurely strokes of their fins, these creatures can swim very slowly, and often prefer to drift with the current. Sometimes sunfish swim on their sides, but these are probably sick or dying individuals. Despite their colossal size, these fish are very peaceful, phlegmatic and defenseless. They are completely unable to resist the attack of predators, and when attacked, they only passively watch as the aggressor tears their body.

Moonfish feed on small prey, which are as sedentary as they themselves. Their food includes jellyfish, ctenophores, salps, small crustaceans and squids. Moreover, they search for food both on the surface of the water and in the depths. They can tear into pieces an animal that does not fit into their small mouth, and grind solid food with their pharyngeal teeth. According to some evidence, sunfish meat can be poisonous, probably due to eating poisonous jellyfish and the accumulation of toxins in fish muscles.

The tiny baby sunfish is armed with spines.

Moonfish do not have special spawning grounds, so they spawn in the same areas where they feed. In terms of fertility, the females of these species have no equal: each can lay up to 300 million eggs! This absolute record in the world of fish. Sunfish eggs are extremely small and float in the water column (such eggs are called pelagic eggs). Thanks to this, it can be carried by currents over long distances, contributing to the spread of these slow-moving creatures across the oceans. Tiny fry, hatched from eggs, initially have big thorns, protecting them from predators. However, the young grow very quickly and by 15 months reach a size of 1.8 m. According to observations in captivity, sunfish can live up to 10 years; life expectancy in nature has not been precisely established.

Despite their large size, moonfish have many enemies. Young individuals can be attacked by tuna, while killer whales and sharks like to hunt adults. There are cases when sea lions played with these fish, biting off their fins and throwing their bodies above the water. Men in different parts The world treats moon fish differently. In Taiwan and Japan they are considered the greatest delicacy (along with related species puffer fish) and eat all parts of the body. IN European countries Fishing for these species is prohibited. And in the tropics, sunfish are not eaten, but they are not protected either. Here they are considered pests that steal bait from hooks, so fishermen cut off the fins of caught individuals and condemn them to a slow, painful death in the depths of the ocean.

Common sunfish in the Barcelona Aquarium.

In captivity, these fish are extremely rare, since they require large and deep aquariums, and they are often injured on the walls of containers. Now the aquariums of Osaka, Monterey, Barcelona, ​​Lisbon and Valencia can boast of having these fish in their collections. Sunfish need protection as amazing and still little-studied representatives of the aquatic fauna.

The sunfish is different from other fish species due to its unique appearance. If you look at this representative underwater world, it is difficult to say that this is a fish and not some other animal. This is due to the fact that the fish's body resembles a disk shape, which indicates its extraterrestrial origin. At least that's what many people think. The easiest way is to compare this fish with an ordinary plate.

This fish also has a second name - mola, as it represents the genus and species of the same name (Mola mola). If the name is translated from Latin, then mola means “millstones”, which have the shape of a large circle of a gray-blue hue. Therefore, the name of the fish corresponds to its appearance.

Some sources call this representative of the underwater world a moon fish, and some simply call it a floating head.

Despite different approaches to determining the name, this is the largest representative of bony fish. Her average weight reaches 1 thousand kg, although there are specimens whose weight reaches 2 thousand kg.

The fish is characterized by rather bizarre body shapes. Its body is round and laterally flattened, and on it you can see two dorsal and two anal fins. The tail part is also distinguished by a unique structure called corns.

This fish is devoid of scales, but its body is covered with durable and reliable skin, which under certain conditions can change its color. The skin is quite elastic and covered with a layer of mucus. This fish cannot be caught by a regular harpoon. Depending on its habitat, its color can vary from brown or brownish-gray to light gray-bluish.

Interesting Facts! The moon fish, unlike other fish species, is distinguished by a smaller number of vertebrae, which indicates a lack of bone tissue in the skeleton. In addition, the fish lacks a classic pelvis, ribs and swim bladder.

And although the fish is quite impressive in size, its mouth is very small, reminiscent of a parrot’s beak. This illusion is created by teeth fused together.

The moon fish inhabits the waters of various continents located in warm and temperate latitudes. Some subspecies of this fish inhabit waters below the equator, within Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Chile.

The average size of the moon fish is limited to a height of 2.5 meters and a length of 2 meters, and the maximum sizes are 4 and 3 meters, respectively. In 1996, a mola was caught that weighed about 2 thousand 300 kg. To give you an idea, this corresponds to the weight and size of an adult white rhinoceros.

These fish, despite huge size, are not predators, and even more so, are considered absolutely safe for humans. At the same time, they pose a danger to boats and vessels if they move at high speed.

Interesting fact! The cement tanker MV Goliath, which was en route to Sydney Harbour, collided with a 1,400kg mole fish. This happened in 1998. The transport was moving at a speed of about 14 knots, but after the collision its speed dropped to 10 knots. At the same time, one of the sections of the ship lost its protective paint, right down to the metal itself.

When the mola is still young, its body is covered with bone spines, which disappear as the individuals grow older.

At first glance, this fish cannot swim at all, but this is not at all true. Even so, it has fins that allow the fish, albeit slowly, to move through the water column. Her movements in the water occur in a circle, which is ineffective, but she succeeds.

The mola's diet includes jellyfish and siphonophores - invertebrate living organisms. In addition, its food source is squid, small crustaceans, deep-sea eel larvae, etc. Although there are plenty of jellyfish in the water column, they are not a nutritious source of food.

It turns out that not much is known about this fish, since even scientists do not know how long the moon fish can live. Some experts claim that fish live for about 20 years. Statements are based on data on the growth and development of fish, depending on habitat conditions. Despite this, according to some data, females can live more than 100 years, and males up to 90 years. No one knows what information is reliable.

Pisces moon refers to a separate sea ​​view who spends his entire life in open ocean, so little is known about him. The fish lives in cold and southern waters of the world's oceans.

It is believed that the moon fish in the warm season is in warm layers of water, which are located at depths of up to 50 meters, while the fish from time to time dives to depths of more than 150 meters.

As far as we know, moonfish are found everywhere in tropical, subtropical and temperate latitudes of the world's oceans.

According to experts, the moonfish mainly feeds on jellyfish. As a rule, jellyfish are not nutritious and in order to grow to such a size and gain impressive weight, the fish dilutes its diet with mollusks, crustaceans, squids and small fish. To do this, it needs to regularly descend to depth in search of more nutritious food components. Being at a depth for a long time, and at a considerable depth, the fish’s body temperature drops, which leads to a slowdown in many life processes. To raise their body temperature, the fish rises to the upper layers of the water and basks in direct sunlight.

As mentioned earlier, this fish has not yet been fully studied, including its reproductive biology. Despite this, the sunfish is known to be the most prolific vertebrate on the planet.

Sexually mature individuals are capable of laying up to 300 million eggs, and the larvae that emerge from the eggs are no larger than a pinhead. When they are born, mole fry have a protective shell in the form of a translucent star or snowflake.

To date, it is unknown where and how the fish lays its eggs. Presumably, for spawning, the fish chooses the waters of the North and South Atlantic, the North and Southern part Pacific Ocean, as well as water areas Indian Ocean. For fish, it is important that there is a concentration of rotating ocean currents in the form of gyres.

Interesting fact! The hatched moonfish larvae reach a length of no more than 2.5 mm. To reach sexual maturity, the fish will have to increase in size up to 60 million times.

The appearance of the moon fish surprises almost everyone, but what is most surprising is that the puffer fish is the closest relative of the mola.

When individuals become sexually mature, there are practically no natural enemies for them, with the exception of humans, who are engaged in very wasteful fishing. The main share of fish catches occurs in the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean And Mediterranean Sea. In these waters, up to 90% of the moon fish are caught, in terms of the total catch. At the same time, fishing is rarely practiced, and it ends up in the net purely by accident.

Despite such facts, moonfish meat is considered a real delicacy in some Asian countries. As a rule, even fish skin and cartilage are used, especially in countries such as Japan and Thailand. In addition, fish is actively used as a medicinal product, although this is only used by ethnoscience. It is impossible to buy this fish in supermarkets or at the market, but you can try it in expensive restaurants where they know how to properly prepare this fish.

A characteristic feature of meat is the repulsive smell of iodine. Despite this, meat is rich in proteins and other useful components. Cutting this fish requires special professionalism, since the liver and bile ducts contain lethal dose poison. During unprofessional cutting, if the liver and bile ducts are touched, the poison will get into the meat and then into the food. As a rule, this leads to death.

Considering the fact that the fish is of no commercial value, no measures are being taken to preserve its numbers, although this is absolutely unfair, since everything in nature is interconnected. The fish becomes a victim of uncontrolled fishing, as well as other factors. It often gets caught in fishermen's nets as it often moves closer to the surface. The fish is quite slow due to the structural features of its body, which makes it especially vulnerable to a number of negative factors.

Scientists have calculated that up to 340 thousand sunfish are caught annually within the waters of South Africa. Experts estimate that moonfish makes up about 29% of the total fish catch, which clearly exceeds the need for it.

In the waters of Japan and Taiwan, targeted fishing for mola mola is carried out. This is due to the fact that fishermen supply this fish to local restaurants as a culinary delicacy.

Based on some calculations, we can safely say that the populations of this fish in some waters are declining by up to 80%. In this regard, it is not difficult to assume that the world stocks of this fish are also declining. It is believed that the level of reduction reaches about 30%. This is especially true in relation to the next 3 generations, that is, in the next 25 years. Little is known about the populations of other subspecies, such as "tecata" Mola and Mola "ramsayi", but it is not difficult to assume that they will suffer the same fate.

It is difficult to even imagine that even those species of fish that do not differ from the irrational activity of humans suffer from commercial value. In this case, it is not difficult to imagine the scale of the catch valuable species fish, or at least those that are of commercial interest. It is not surprising that people have already reached the point where they simply need to ban fishing in on a global scale. If you don’t do this, you’ll simply have to forget about a product like fish, which can lead to serious negative consequences for a person. It seems that humanity is waiting for a stage when fish will have to be grown artificially, in specially designated water areas. The reason for this may also be the fact that water resources are polluted at a high rate, which also leads to a decrease in fish stocks on a global scale.

Moon fish is amazing creature, but for some reason it has been studied very poorly and it is unknown what role this amazing creature plays in the life of all nature and man, in particular. This suggests that even in the 3rd millennium there is a lot of unknown on Earth, which prevents us from having a complete understanding of life on our Planet.

Origin of the species and description

This fish got its name due to its unusual appearance, similar in shape to the moon. It belongs to the order of pufferfish and has teeth and skin cover similar in structure to them, and the absence of the outer side of the gills. This group includes, for example, poisonous fish fugu, but fugu is in the suborder of dogfishes, and the moon is in the suborder lunates.

The order of pufferfish as a whole is very unusual. These fish are characterized by unusual body shapes such as ball and square. Fish from this order easily adapt to different temperatures waters and live in almost all oceans.

Video: Moon fish

Another Latin name for this fish is mola mola, which means “millstone”, i.e. round device for kneading grain. The fish is also called “sunfish” because of its round shape. In Germany, this fish is called "fish head" because of its physiology.

Moon fish is the most major representative bony fish, since its weight can vary within a ton or even two.

Appearance and features

Typically, the length of this creature is 2.5 m in height, about 2 m in length (the fish grows to a maximum of 4 and 3 m).

The body of the moon fish is flattened laterally and it is vertically elongated, which makes its appearance even more unusual. Its body can be compared in shape to a disk - a wide plane. It is also distinguished complete absence caudal fin due to underdeveloped bones of the pelvic girdle. But the fish can boast of a “pseudo-tail”, which is formed by the dorsal and pelvic fins pushed together. Thanks to flexible cartilaginous rays, this tail allows the fish to maneuver in the water space.

Interesting fact: in 1966, a female sunfish was caught that weighed 2,300 kg. This fish was included in the Guinness Book of Records.

Interesting fact: the moon fish not only has a record weight among bony fish, but also the shortest spine relative to the size of the body: only 16-18 vertebrae. Accordingly, her brain is longer than her spinal cord.

This fish does not have a swim bladder or lateral line, which helps fish detect danger out of sight. This fact is due to the fact that the fish has almost no natural enemies in its habitat.

The fish has no scales at all, and its thick skin is covered with protective mucus. However, in adult individuals, small bone growths are observed, which are considered to be evolutionary “remnants” of scales. It is not colorful - gray and brown colors; but in some habitats the fish are distinguished by bright patterns. In cases of danger, the moon fish changes its color to a darker one, which in the animal world gives it a terrifying appearance.

Where does the moon fish live?

Moon fish is predisposed to living in warm waters any oceans, such as:

• East Pacific, namely Canada, Peru and Chile;
• Indian Ocean. The moonfish is found in any part of this ocean, including the Red Sea;
• Waters of Russia, Japan, Australia;
• Sometimes fish swim into the Baltic Sea;
• In the east of the Atlantic (Scandinavia, South Africa);
• West Atlantic. The fish is rare here, appearing more often in southern Argentina or the Caribbean Sea.

The warmer the water, the higher the abundance of this species. For example, in the western Atlantic Ocean, about 18,000 individuals measuring no more than one meter are found off the coasts. The only place where the moon fish does not live is the Arctic Ocean.

Fish can descend to depths of up to 850 m. Most often they can be found at a depth of an average of 200 m, from where they occasionally rise to the surface. Often the fish that surface are weak and hungry and soon die. The water temperature should not fall below 11 degrees Celsius, as this can kill the fish.

What does the moon fish eat?

The diet of the moon fish depends on its habitat. The food must be soft, although there have been cases of such fish eating crustaceans with hard chitin.

Usually the moon fish feeds on:

• Plankton;
• Salpas;
• Ctenophores;
• Jellyfish;
• Acne and eel larvae;
• Large starfish;
• Sponges;
• Small squids. Sometimes a fight occurs between the fish and the squid, in which the fish, due to its low maneuverability, retreats;
• Small fish. They are more often found on the surface or near reefs;
• Algae. Not the most nutritious option, so fish eat them in case of emergency.

This variety of food found in the stomachs of fish suggests that moons feed on different levels water: both at depth and on the surface. Most often, the diet of moonfish consists of jellyfish, but they become insufficient when the fish grows rapidly.

These fish do not have the necessary maneuverability and cannot pursue prey. Therefore, their mouth is adapted to suck in a large flow of water into which food falls.

Features of character and lifestyle

Fish lead a solitary lifestyle, flocking in schools only during the breeding season. However, there are fish that swim in pairs for a long period of time or even their entire lives. Fish flock together only when there is a concentration of cleaner fish or seagulls.

Unlike many fish, the moonfish's fins do not move from side to side. The principle of their operation is similar to oars: the fish scoops up water with them and slowly moves at depth. But the fry of these fish move their not yet formed fins like ordinary fish: left and right.

Compared to many fish, the moonfish swims very slowly. Maximum speed movement is about 3 km/hour, but the fish travels relatively long distances: up to 26 km per day. This is due to the fact that the vertical shape of the fish allows it to catch currents that accelerate its movement.

By nature, these fish are phlegmatic. They do not show aggression towards surrounding life forms and are absolutely harmless to humans. Despite its impressive size, the moon fish easily allows scuba divers to swim in close proximity to it. In the event of an attack, the moon fish is not able to fight back because it does not have the necessary dexterity, and its jaws are not adapted to bite through hard objects.

Social structure and reproduction

As already mentioned, the bulk of moon fish are loners. Due to the fact that this species has been poorly studied, it is difficult to say precisely about the biology of reproduction. But scientists have found that the sunfish is the most prolific vertebrate on the planet.

The mating season occurs approximately in the summer, when the fish have the opportunity to go to shallow water. This is a rare occasion when you can see a school of fish. Due to the fact that the fish are together in a small space, they often spawn in the same place. This is where the parental role of the moon fish ends.

Adult fish lay up to 300 million eggs, from which larvae emerge. The larvae have a pinhead size of 2.5 mm, and have a protective shell in the form of a translucent film. In the larval state, the moon fish has external resemblance with a relative - puffer fish. Only factor appearance is protection for the larvae, since otherwise they are not protected in any way from predators and the aggressive external environment.

The moon fish lays its eggs in the southern part Atlantic waters, Indian and Pacific Oceans. IN natural environment habitat, the moon fish lives up to 23 years, rarely living to 27. In captivity, fish grow quickly and reach large sizes, but their life expectancy is reduced to 10 years.

Natural enemies of moon fish

Due to the fact that the moon fish lives mainly in deep waters, it does not have many natural enemies.

These include:

• . Often this predator cannot bite through the thick skin of the moon fish. He catches it when it is on the surface and bites off its fins, making it impossible to move. If further attempts to bite the fish are not successful, sea ​​lion leaves the prey in this state, after which the fish drowns and remains to be eaten starfish.
• Orcas. Only fish-eating killer whales attack the moon fish, but cases are quite rare. Often cetaceans have no interest in this species and ignore it. The killer whales that attacked the moon fish were hungry or too old to fully hunt.
• . These predators readily attack the moon fish. The jaws of sharks allow them to easily bite through the thick skin of fish, and the remains go to underwater scavengers - small crustaceans and starfish. But sharks are not often found in the depths of the fish moon, so such encounters are rare.
• The most important enemy for the moon fish is man. Not so long ago, fishing for this species was very popular, although the fish itself carries very little nutritional value. They mined it as a trophy, since not so long ago the moon fish was a mysterious and unexplored inhabitant of the ocean.

Population and species status

It is difficult to estimate the approximate number of sunfish individuals in the world. It is prolific and has almost no natural enemies, so there is no need to worry about the population of this species. Ocean pollution is one of the few threats to fish. Often, along with food, they suck in plastic waste, which clogs the airways and causes suffocation.

Despite the fact that the moon fish is not an aggressive creature at all, sometimes it collides with boats or jumps into them, which sometimes leads to injuries to people and accidents. Collisions like this are very common.

There is still active fishing for this fish. Their meat is not tasty, nutritious or healthy, but is considered a delicacy in eastern countries. All parts of fish are eaten, including internal organs(some are even prescribed healing properties). Fish moon continues to be studied by scientists. Priority on this moment is the study of migration processes and reproductive characteristics.

How many interesting things are hidden in the depths of the seas and oceans. And it also has its own Moon.

Moonfish- one of the most amazing sea creatures.

This fish entered into the Guinness Book of Records. Fish moon is YOURSELF:

A little about the name.

Appearance of the moon fish.

The skin is unusually thick, strong and elastic, covered with small bony tubercles. They say that even the skin of the ship cannot withstand a collision with a “crumb” fish and the paint peels off.

The tail is short, wide and truncated.

The dorsal and ventral fins of the sunfish are narrow and long, opposed to each other and moved far back.

The body gradually tapers towards the front and ends in an elongated round mouth full of teeth fused into a solid plate.

The color of the sunfish can be very different - from brown to gray and even white.

The 200-kilogram fish had a brain weight of only 4 grams, from which we can conclude that the moon fish is absolutely stupid. She hardly reacts to the approach of people and can often be caught with a hook. It is to hook, and not to catch, because under the scaleless skin there is a very thick and hard fibrous layer. Even the sharp end of a harpoon is not able to pierce him. The harpoon bounces off such armor and the moon fish continues its leisurely swimming.

Features of behavior.

Young individuals of this species swim like ordinary fish, and adults spend a significant part of their time lying on their sides, near the surface, lazily moving their fins, alternately exposing them from the water.

“Luna” is a very poor swimmer, unable to overcome strong currents. Therefore, the moon fish looks extremely apathetic... Sometimes sailors from a ship can watch how this harmless “monster” sways sluggishly on the surface of the water.

Moon Pisces prefers to be alone, but sometimes they are seen in pairs. Despite the fact that even large moon fish cannot cause any harm to a person, in some places off the coast of South Africa, fishermen experience superstitious fear when meeting this fish, considering it a harbinger of trouble, and hastily return to the shore. This is apparently explained by the fact that the “moon” approaches the shores only before bad weather, and fishermen associate its appearance with an approaching storm.

Nutritional features.

Sunfish feed on zooplankton.

Moonfish do not need to actively hunt to feed. Living, as a rule, in an environment rich in plankton, it is limited to sucking prey that swims within its reach. This is confirmed by studies of fish stomachs, in which crustaceans, small squids, leptocephali, ctenophores, fry, larvae and even jellyfish were found. The moonfish also does not disdain plant foods.

Where do they live?

The sunfish most often stays near the surface of the water, but has also been found at a depth of 300 meters. Scientists suggest that the sunfish can reach quite great depths.

These heavyweights live in all tropical and temperate zones. Sometimes they are carried to the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea, to the shores of Scandinavia and Newfoundland. These beauties can also be found off the coast of Russia - in the northern part Sea of ​​Japan and area southern islands Great Kuril ridge.

The best place in Asian waters where divers can see this miracle fish is the island of Bali in Indonesia. From July to October, a deep-sea encounter with a marvelous ocean inhabitant is almost one hundred percent guaranteed.

The sunfish is not particularly shy, and with some skill you can swim almost close to it. But keep in mind that any careless movement will turn her into a swift flight, amazing for such a heavyweight.

Dangers to the sunfish.

They suffer from attacks by predators - sharks, killer whales, sea lions.

Humans also pose a serious danger to this sea ​​creature. In some East Asian countries, where sunfish is considered a delicacy, it is specially caught, but in other places thousands of individuals die simply from industrial fishing for other fish.

Used in Chinese medicine as a medicine. Like the related fugu and abunawa, the sunfish's tissues contain toxins.

It has no commercial significance.

In captivity, sunfish adapt poorly and often die.