Moon fish. The largest fish (from the bony class) in the world Where does the moon fish live

Did you know that the sun and moon are not only in the sky? Don't believe me? Take a look into the underwater world - it also has its own “luminaries”. Deep underwater, in the seas and oceans, there lives a fish called “moon”. Her appearance and gave it this name. Take a look at the photo of the moon fish - an underwater star, and that’s all - it’s almost completely round!

But the unique appearance is not the only “achievement” of this fish. According to the Guinness Book of Records, the sunfish is the largest bone fish On the Earth! About the size of the record holder a little later, but first - scientific classification. The sunfish belongs to the order of pufferfish of the class of ray-finned fish. The family and genus that this fish belongs to bear the same name, “moon fish.”

Photo of the moon fish - an underwater star

What does the Guinness Book record holder look like?

The largest specimen ever caught in the world reached a length of 4 meters 26 centimeters and weighed 2235 kilograms!

The flat disc-shaped body does not allow the sunfish to swim like all ordinary fish - vertically. Most This representative of the ray-finned class spends time lying on its side, but not on the bottom, but closer to the surface of the water.

The sunfish has very thick skin, and with such “armor” this sea creature is not afraid of external blows.

And this record holder also has a very small brain, out of the entire multi-ton body mass, it accounts for only 4 grams. It was for this “flaw” that the sunfish received from scientists offensive nickname"A complete fool."

Where does the sunfish live?

Its habitat is considered to be temperate and tropical waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. This huge underwater resident is found off the coast of Iceland, Great Britain, and Norway. In addition, there are fish in the Baltic Sea and near Kola Peninsula. It can also be found in the Sea of ​​Japan, as well as near the Kuril Islands.

Underwater moon lifestyle

Round big fish prefers a solitary lifestyle. It is very rare to come across pairs of these sea ​​creatures.

As already mentioned, this fish swims poorly; nevertheless, the large heavy body makes itself felt. Therefore, often, the moonfish simply swims, caught by the current, but it doesn’t know where!

The depth of habitat of the moon fish does not exceed 600 meters from the surface of the water. But often it can be seen right on the surface. This fish doesn’t seem to care about anything, it would like to just lie there, as long as no one touches it!

There is one interesting belief among people: if you see a moonfish close to the shore, this means the imminent onset of a natural disaster. So the unsuspecting moonfish, rocking on the waves, doesn’t even know what is a bad omen.

What does a giant fish eat?

Its main food is squid, salps, eel larvae, jellyfish and ctenophores.

How does the moonfish reproduce?

Among the fish “kingdom”, the moon fish also holds another record - it is the most prolific. Each time during spawning, this underwater inhabitant lays about 300 million eggs! But such a large amount of caviar does not indicate the numerous offspring of the fish - most of the fry do not have time to grow to adulthood, becoming prey for lovers of young meat. Spawning takes place in tropical zones.

When a small "baby" moon fish is born, it smaller size their parents 60 million times! On his body you can find outgrowths like thorns, which disappear with age.

Natural enemies of the moon fish, who are they?

Due to the slowness of the fish, even despite its size, it is constantly hunted by other large aquatic predators. They swim up to the clumsy fish and literally bite off a piece of it.

The common moonfish (lat. Mola mola) is the owner of a unique figure and a real giant underwater world. She is one of the most major representatives family of moon fish (Molidae) from the order Tetraodontiformes.

Relationships with people

The largest specimen, 426 cm long and weighing 2235 kg, was caught in 1908 near Australian city Sydney. The unusually shaped body makes it possible to quickly distinguish this species from other marine inhabitants. Fishermen have always considered the catch of such fish to be an exceptional event. Some of them considered the appearance of the moon fish a bad sign, foreshadowing a poor catch. Before the storm approaches, she is in large quantities swims into bays to escape bad weather.

In East Asian countries, this type of fish is caught in large numbers because its meat is considered medicinal. In fact, it is poisonous due to the content of tetrodotoxin, which can lead to death.

According to reviews from gourmets who have tasted moonfish meat, it has unpleasant smell, and if you cook it for a long time, it acquires a sticky consistency. Caviar, liver and milt are strictly prohibited from being eaten. Such a feast often ends in death.

Behavior

The sunfish is found in temperate and tropical waters seas and oceans. Traveling with warm currents, it swims into the coastal zone of Iceland or Norway. Even its appearance in the Mediterranean Sea will not surprise anyone.

Living in the open sea, the fish prefers to be close to the surface, but sometimes dives to a depth of up to 300 m. This giant is distinguished by its peaceful character and its leisurely way of life.

Until recently, the sunfish was classified as oceanic macroplankton, but targeted observations showed that this sloth can reach speeds of up to 3.3 km/h and cover a distance of about 26 km per day. Giant fish cannot overcome strong currents, so it often continues its journey captured by some warm current.

During movement, its body is motionless; movement is carried out only by its fins. Hovering on the surface, it exposes its dorsal fin above water surface. Sometimes she sinks to the bottom and hangs head down. Despite its laziness, in a moment of danger, the moon fish can quickly fly over the water.

Furrowing the expanses of the seas and oceans, the fish, along with warm currents, approach the coast to feast on jellyfish. Its diet is enriched with eel larvae, small crustaceans and all kinds of planktonic organisms, as well as various types seaweed

In clear weather, the moon fish approaches the surface of the water and basks in sun rays. Many ichthyologists argue that this behavior is characteristic of sick or aged specimens.

Reproduction of the moon fish

Spawning begins in July and ends in October. The fish heads to coastal waters and spawns about 300 million eggs there. Together with plankton, they move freely on the surface.

In their development, the larvae go through three stages of metamorphosis and outwardly resemble puffer fish. Their body length is 1 mm. They have big head and a clearly visible caudal peduncle.

During the second stage, the larva grows plates of bone on its small body. At the same time, the caudal peduncle becomes smaller. A small part of the anal and dorsal fins are fused into the caudal fin.

The larva in the third stage of development already resembles an adult. For some time she was ranked among separate species Pisces moons. The size of the grown larvae reaches 1.5 cm. Their peculiar short body is flattened on the sides. The tail, along with the caudal peduncle, disappears forever. Small plates with a small cone-shaped tooth grow on the skin.

Under the influence of evolutionary processes, the moon fish lost its caudal stalk and tail. In place of the caudal fin, parts of the anal and caudal fin appeared, which fused together. She was left without pelvic fins and a pelvic girdle in her skeleton. Cartilaginous tissue remains as part of her skeleton, and the spinal ridge consists of 16-20 vertebrae.

Possessing low mobility, the sunfish can become easy prey for larger ones. sea ​​predators– killer whales, sea ​​lions and sharks.

Description

The length of adult individuals reaches 4 m, weight no more than 2 tons. There are no jaws in the small mouth. Instead, there are bone plates that form a powerful beak.

The short powerful body is flattened laterally. The dorsal fin is very long. The pectoral fins are small.

The moon fish has greatly reduced longitudinal muscles, with the help of which other fish bend their bodies. To move the anal and dorsal fins, there are separate powerful bundles of muscles.

Color varies from gray to Brown with a silvery tint with light spots. The anal fin is long and strongly pointed. Instead of a tail there is a fin formed by connecting the anal and dorsal fins. The rough skin is covered with bony tubercles and small spines like a shell.

The average lifespan of a moon fish in natural conditions is about 20 years.

In Latin it is called Mola Mola, and on English language "Ocean Sunfish" is a fish that looks like the moon, which gives it its name. She looks like she only has one head instead of a body, but it's not that simple.

Imagine an animal weighing 1000 kg having a brain the size of a peanut, weighing only 4 grams!

This explains why this fish is very quiet, calm... and quite stupid.

What does a moon fish look like?

The body is tall, strongly laterally flattened, covered with very thick, elastic skin. No coccyx. High fin dorsal and anal. Small mouth . Adults do not have a bladder.

The largest specimen weighs two tons and is 3 meters long!

The sunfish is also probably the most fertile fish in the world. The average female of this species lays about 300 million eggs!

Where does the moon fish live and what does it eat?

The moon fish lives a rather lonely life, swimming freely in the vast expanses of the ocean. Sometimes, however, they gather in groups and swim sideways on the surface of the water, apparently sunbathing in the sun (hence their English name- Sunfish)

Sometimes these giants accidentally get caught in fishing nets and fishermen are forced to lift them on board using cranes.

Despite their rather formidable appearance, representatives of this species feed on plankton. They also do not disdain jellyfish, calamari and eel larvae, and do not miss shellfish. The moonfish can be found in all tropical waters, and, despite its size, it is absolutely harmless to people, and the places where it appears are often the site of large-scale diving expeditions.

On the other hand, a huge fish poses a serious threat to small ships - a collision with a heading high speed A small yacht can end badly for both fish and sailors.

Moonfish caught on Sakhalin

A fish with a record weight of 1,100 kilograms was pulled out with nets by a fishing seiner from Sakhalin called the Kuril Fisherman. Russian fishermen were working near the island of Iturup, their main goal was pink salmon, and the sunfish turned up by chance.

Nevertheless, they delivered a rare specimen to the base. Since there was no room for it in the cold hold, the fish deteriorated during the passage and loading ashore. She was taken to the Gidrostroy company's landfill, where workers feed and photograph the bears. Very quickly nothing remained of the thousand-kilogram carcass.

Largest size of Pisces moon

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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 moonfish family (Molidae) is united unusual appearance 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.

When moving, all moonfish use very long and narrow anal and dorsal fins, flapping them like bird wings, and small pectoral fins at the same time they 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 There is a poison called 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. Adult 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 spot 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 the unusual appearance of the 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))

Luna fish is a species of the genus of moon fish of the same family. These are the heaviest of modern bony fishes. They reach a length of three meters. The Guinness Book of Records provides data on an individual caught on September 18, 1908 near Sydney, whose length was 4.26 m and weight 2235 kg.

Common moonfish live in tropical and temperate waters of all oceans. They are found in the pelagic zone at depths of up to 844 m. They have a laterally compressed disc-shaped body. The dorsal and anal fins are moved back and form a tail plate. The skin is devoid of scales. The teeth are fused into a “beak”. Pelvic fins are absent. The color is bluish or grayish-brown. They feed mainly on jellyfish and other pelagic invertebrates.

It is the most prolific species among vertebrates, females ordinary moons fish produce up to 300,000,000 eggs at a time. The fry of this species resemble miniature pufferfish, they have large pectoral fins, a caudal fin and spines, which disappear in adulthood. Adult moon fish are quite vulnerable. They are hunted sea ​​lions, killer whales and sharks. In some countries, such as Japan, Korea and Taiwan, their meat is considered a delicacy. In EU countries there is a ban on the sale of sunfish products.

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 shape, in many languages ​​of the world this unusual creature is called the moon fish, or the sun fish, 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.

Moonfish belong to the order Pufferfish, which includes pufferfish and urchinfish, with which they have much in common. First of all, these are four fused front teeth, which form a characteristic non-closing beak, which gave the Latin name to the 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 pseudotail.

Sunfish feed on zooplankton. This is confirmed by studies of fish stomachs, in which crustaceans, small squids, leptocephali, ctenophores and even jellyfish were found. Scientists suggest that the sunfish can reach quite great depths.

When moving, all moonfish use very long and narrow anal and dorsal fins, 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, moon fish 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.

It is believed that the lifespan of the sunfish can be about a hundred years, but much is still unknown about these amazing creatures because they do not get along well in aquariums.

Moonfish are found in tropical and temperate waters of all oceans. In the eastern part Pacific Ocean these fish are distributed from Canada (British Columbia) to the south of Peru and Chile, in the Indo-Pacific region - throughout Indian Ocean, including the Red Sea, and further from Russia and Japan to Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii. In the eastern Atlantic they are found from Scandinavia to South Africa, occasionally entering the Baltic, Northern and Mediterranean Sea. In the eastern part Atlantic Ocean Sunfish can be found from the coast of Newfoundland to southern Argentina, including Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Genetic differences between individuals living in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, are minimal.

During the spring and summer, the population of common moonfish in the northwest Atlantic is estimated at 18,000 individuals. In coastal waters, large concentrations of small fish up to 1 m in length are observed. In the Irish and Celtic Seas in 2003-2005, 68 individuals of this species were recorded, the estimated population density was 0.98 individuals per 100 km².

Usually these fish are caught at temperatures above 10 °C. Long stay at temperatures of 12 °C and below can cause them to become disorientated and suddenly die. Common moonfish often found in superficial layers open ocean; There was an opinion that this fish swims on its side, but there is a version that this method of movement is typical for sick individuals. It is also possible that in this way the fish warm up their bodies before immersing themselves in cold water layers.

Their large size and thick skin make adult moon fish invulnerable to small predators, however, juveniles can become prey for tuna and korifena. Large fish are also attacked by sharks. In Monterey Bay, sea lions have been observed biting off the fins of moonfish and pushing them to the surface of the water. Probably, with the help of such actions, mammals manage to bite through the thick skin of fish. Sometimes, after throwing the moon fish several times, the sea lions abandoned their prey, and it helplessly sank to the bottom, where it was eaten by starfish.