The mola mola, aka sunfish, is a fairly common sight for us Southern California anglers. I’ve seen them as far north as Santa Monica Bay, and then south to deep below the Mexican border off the Baja coast. Typically, you’ll see a big shadow in the water and wonder, Whoa! What’s that? And then you see it’s a mola and you’re disappointed. I don’t know anyone who’s eaten one and never seen one bite a hook. They eat jellyfish, so how are you going to bait up for them?
I’ve never known much about them until recently coming across the following blog post from The Nature Conservancy.
When it hatches, a Mola mola is the size of a pinhead but will grow to be the heaviest bony fish in the ocean—and the weirdest.
The weirdness begins with the eggs. A female Mola mola or ocean sunfish produces more eggs than any other vertebrate on earth.
One modest-sized female had an estimate 300 million eggs inside her.
At birth, the baby fish are protected by a star-shaped transparent covering that looks like someone put an alien head inside of a Christmas ornament—albeit a very small only a tenth of an inch across.
Even as a baby, the Mola mola has its parents’ surprised look with the wide eye and open mouth.
Photos: The Nature Conservancy
