Maldives Marine Life

Marine life of Maldivian waters

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Ocean sunfish
No photo available
Photo: U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (view on Wikimedia Commons)

Ocean sunfish

Mola mola

Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).

English
Ocean sunfish
Scientific
Mola mola
Dhivehi
No recorded Dhivehi name
Group
Tunas and other pelagics
Family
Molidae (molas and sunfishes)
Maximum size
Up to about 3.3 m (total length); max. published weight 1.3 t
Depth and habitat
Open ocean, near the surface and in mid-water, recorded from 30 to 1515 m (usually 30 to 70 m)
IUCN status
VU · VulnerableVulnerable (VU), assessed 2011

Description

One of the heaviest bony fish, reaching about 3.3 m and 1.3 tonnes, with a tall, disc-shaped body, thick elastic skin and a rounded rudder in place of a tail. It feeds largely on jellyfish and other gelatinous animals and sometimes basks on its side at the surface.

Sources

Dhivehi name source: No Dhivehi name found in MRS 1997 (available chapters), FishBase (country: Maldives) or Dhivehi Wikipedia.