Modern scientists have more than 20 thousand fish, they are all different in color, habitat, size. And this is several times more than birds and mammals combined. One of the most unique is the moon fish. She is simply gigantic in size and leads a sedentary lifestyle. In the natural environment, she has practically no enemies, she does not belong to the category of fishing.
Brief historical background
Moonfish in Latin sounds like Mola mola, popularly called "sun" or "head". The word mola is translated as "millstone".
This is one of the largest bone representatives of the aquatic world of all existing and known species in the world. One of the individuals that was caught in 1908 is even listed in the Guinness Book of Records. Her weight was 2235 kilograms, length - 3.1 meters, and from the bottom to the top fin - 4.26 meters.
Area
Moonfish prefer oceanic waters, mostly tropical or temperate. It lives in the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Occurs on the coasts of the Russian Federation, Australia and Japan, near the Hawaiian Islands and near NovayaZealand. Also off the coast of South Africa and Scandinavia. Very rarely swims to the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. There are practically no special genetic differences depending on the area of residence.
She prefers a depth of up to 844 meters, but most often the fish lives at a depth of 200 meters. Average population density: approximately 0.98 individuals per 100,000 meters.
For this individual, the acceptable water temperature is considered to be above +12 °С. If the water temperature is lower, then the fish loses its orientation, and soon dies.
According to some observations, she often swims on her side. Most likely, this is due to the fact that it warms up under the sun in order to plunge into the depths. According to another version, they swim this way if they are sick.
This type of fish prefers a solitary lifestyle. Very rarely there are two individuals. But where the cleaners live, moonfish gather in whole groups. They love to lie on their side on the very surface of the water surface.
Appearance
What does a moon fish look like? In the photo you can see that this creation is amazing. The bodies of all individuals are laterally compressed. The body itself is short and very disk-like. The length and height of the fish are almost the same.
Instead of a tail, fish have a lumpy pseudo-tail. It is believed that the tail was lost in the process of evolution. The pseudo-tail is an elastic cartilaginous plate, without spiny rays. The fish uses this plate as a paddle. She has miniature eyes and mouth compared to the rest of her body. There are no fins in the tail and on the belly. breastfeedingmore like a fan, small in size and act as a stabilizer.
The fish has a very short spine, it has no more than 18 vertebrae. The spinal cord is much shorter than the brain, only 15 millimeters. The skeleton is practically one cartilaginous tissue, and there are no bone formations in the caudal fin at all. But there are anal and dorsal fins with which the fish swims.
The mouth of the fish does not close tightly, in which the fused teeth are located. Researchers claim that with the help of pharyngeal teeth, the fish makes sounds similar to grinding.
There is not a single scale on the skin and it is covered with a mucous substance with bony protrusions. The skin in the area of the tail plate is much softer, under which there is a cartilage layer, about 6 centimeters thick.
Moonfish can be brown or silvery grey. There are individuals with a variegated color. The color of the skin depends largely on the area of residence. In case of danger, all individuals can change their color.
Dimensions and weights
The average length of this species is 1.8 meters and the height is 2.5 meters. Body weight varies from 247 to 1000 kilograms. Due to the fact that the mass of the skeleton of the fish is not very large, as it is represented mainly by cartilaginous tissue, it manages to grow to such huge sizes. To estimate the size of the moon fish, a photo with a person is most suitable.
Procreation
This is one of the most prolific fish species on earth. At one time, the female spawns about 300 million eggs. But they are very small, about 1 millimeter. When the larva "cut through", it already grows up to 2 millimeters, with a body weight of about 0.01 grams. At this age, the larvae are very similar to pufferfish.
When reaching a size of 6-8 millimeters, there are already bone plates that have triangular protrusions. In the future, they are crushed into small cloves, and after some time they completely disappear. The tail fin can still be seen at this stage.
From the moment of birth and reaching adulthood, the fish goes through a difficult path of metamorphosis and increases 60 million times compared to the caviar. According to observations of fish in the Monterey Bay Aquarium, one individual gained weight from 26 to 399 kilograms in 15 months.
Life cycle
In the aquariums of the world you can see not only photos of the moon fish, but also how it lives in natural conditions. Mola mola can live up to 10 years in captivity. It is impossible to establish exactly how many years she lives in the ocean. Scientists suggest that the life span is from 16 to 23 years, and it is believed that females live longer. A fish grows 0.1 centimeter in one day.
Diet
Individuals of this species prefer soft food, but sometimes feed on crustaceans or small fish. The diet is based on: plankton, jellyfish, salps and ctenophores.
Some fish have found starfish, algae, squid, sponges and eel larvae in their stomachs. This once again confirms that Molamola is going down a bigdepth. Due to the scarcity of nutrients in the food they eat, the fish have to eat very often.
Parasite
Due to the lack of scales, there are a lot of parasites on the skin of the fish. About 40 different parasitic species were counted in individuals living in aquariums. But most often, it is the worm Accacoelium contortum. Under natural conditions, cleaner fish “monitor” the cleanliness of the skin. For this reason, the moon often swims in places where there is a huge accumulation of algae, cleaner fish are very fond of living there.
People and fish
Above is a photo of a moon fish with a man. This species, living in the water element, poses no danger to humans, despite its huge size.
In the waters where Mola mola lives, peculiar accidents with ships, especially small ones, often occur. Bodies can get caught in the blades of large ships or hit boats, literally knocking people off their feet.
Catch this type of fish only in Taiwan and Japan. By the way, the meat of the moon is considered a delicacy, although it is very flabby and tasteless. In Europe, it is not only not caught, but it is never served at the table. And in our country, on sale you can find a product called "Moon Fish", but in fact they sell vomer.
Kuril phenomenon
In September last year, a 1100 kg moonfish was caught on the Kuril Islands. The photo of this individual was on all news channels. They caught it near the island of Iturup. At first, the fishermen were delighted with such a chic catch, but due to inexperience they could not drag her into the trawler. Tillshe was dragged in tow for three days, she was rotten. As a result, having arrived on land, the fishermen gave the delicacy to the bears.
Some interesting facts
A female fish lays about 300 million eggs at a time, while not worrying about the future of her children at all. That is why this species has a very low survival rate of offspring.
Moonfish are very difficult to keep in an aquarium. All individuals have a very small brain when compared to body size. The fish practically does not react to the threat in any way, it is inactive and clumsy. It is often eaten by the more daring representatives of the depths, sharks and other predators.
