Ocean sunfish: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the Ocean sunfish lives – recorded in 6 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Mola mola
Group	Bony fish
Status	Vulnerable (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	6 countries
Continents	Europe, North America
Class	Ray-finned fish
Order	Tetraodontiformes
Family	Molidae

Where does the Ocean sunfish live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the Ocean sunfish in 6 countries and territories across Europe and North America.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the Ocean sunfish endangered?

The Ocean sunfish’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Vulnerable” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the Ocean sunfish?

The Ocean sunfish (Mola mola) is a ray-finned fish in the order Tetraodontiformes and the family Molidae, genus Mola. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the Ocean sunfish

The ocean sunfish (Mola mola), also known as the common mola, is one of the largest ray-finned fish in the world. It is the type species of the genus Mola, and one of five extant species in the family Molidae. It was formerly misidentified as the heaviest bony fish, which is actually a different and closely related species of sunfish, Mola alexandrini. Adults typically weigh between 247 and 1,000 kg (545 and 2,205 lb). It is native to tropical and temperate waters around the world. It resembles a fish head without a tail, and its main body is flattened laterally. Sunfish can be as tall as they are long, between 175 and 180 centimetres (5.74 and 5.91 ft), when their dorsal and ventral fins are extended.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Ocean sunfish (revision 1371252328), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q192285 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).