Modern scientists have more than 20 thousand fish, all of them are different in color, habitat, size. And this is several times more than combined birds and mammals. One of the most unique is the moon fish. It is simply gigantic in size and leads a sedentary lifestyle. In the natural environment, it has practically no enemies, it does not belong to the category of fishing.
Brief historical background
The moon fish in Latin sounds like Mola mola, popularly called the "sun" or "head". The word mola is translated as “millstone”.
This is one of the largest bone representatives of the water 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 lower to upper fin - 4.26 meters.
Area
Moonfish prefers ocean waters, mostly tropical or temperate. It lives in the Indian Ocean, in the Red Sea and in the Pacific Ocean. It is found on the seashores of the Russian Federation, Australia and Japan, near the Hawaiian Islands and near New Zealand. Also off the coast of South Africa and Scandinavia. Very rarely swims in 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 animals per 100,000 meters.
For this individual, an acceptable temperature of the water is considered a level above +12 ° C. 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 to plunge into the depths. According to another version, they swim this way if they get sick.
This species of fish prefers a solitary lifestyle. Two individuals are very rare. But where the cleaners live, the moon fish gather in whole groups. They like 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 creature is amazing. The bodies of all individuals are compressed laterally. The body itself is short and very much like a disk. The length and height of the fish are almost the same.
Instead of a tail, a fish has a tuberous pseudo-tail. It is believed that the tail was lost in the process of evolution. A pseudo-tail is an elastic cartilaginous plate, without prickly rays. Fish uses this plate as a paddle. She has miniature eyes and a mouth, compared to the rest of her body. The fins in the tail and on the belly are absent. Breasts are more 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 almost one cartilaginous tissue, and there are no bone formations in the caudal fin. But there are anal and dorsal fins, with the help of which the fish swims.
The fish mouth does not close tightly, in which fused teeth are located. Researchers say that with the help of pharyngeal teeth, the fish makes sounds similar to a rattle.
There is not a single flake on the skin and it is covered with a mucous substance with bone 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 silver gray. There are individuals with a motley color. The color of the skin depends on the area of residence. In case of danger, all individuals can change their color.
Dimensions and Weight
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 from cartilage, it manages to grow to such a huge size. To assess the size of the moon fish, a photo with a person is most suitable.
Procreation
This is one of the most prolific species of fish on the whole Earth. At one time, the female swallows about 300 million eggs. But they are very small in size, about 1 millimeter. When the larva “cuts through”, it already grows to 2 millimeters, with a body weight of about 0.01 grams. At this age, the larvae are very similar to puffer fish.
When reaching sizes of 6-8 millimeters, bone plates appear that have triangular protrusions. In the future, they are crushed into small cloves, and after some time they completely disappear. At this stage, the caudal fin can still be seen.
From the moment of birth and reaching adulthood, fish goes through a difficult path of metamorphosis and increases 60 million times in comparison with eggs. According to observations of fish in the Monterey Bay Aquarium, one individual in 15 months gained weight from 26 to 399 kilograms.
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. In captivity, Mola mola lives up to 10 years. It is impossible to establish exactly how many years she has been living in the ocean. Scientists suggest that the life span is from 16 to 23 years, and it is believed that females live longer. Fish in one day grows by 0.1 centimeter.
Diet
Individuals of this species prefer soft food, but sometimes they feed on crustaceans or small fish. The diet is based on: plankton, jellyfish, salps and ctenophores.
In some fish, starfish, seaweed, squid, sponges and blackhead larvae were found in the stomach. This once again confirms that Molamola sinks to great depths. Due to the scarcity of nutrients in the absorbed food, fish have to eat very often.
Parasites
Due to the lack of scales, there are many parasites on the skin of the fish. In individuals living in oceanariums, about 40 different species of parasites were counted. But most often, this is the Accacoelium contortum worm. In natural conditions, cleanliness is “monitored” by fish-cleaners. For this reason, the moon often swims to places where there is a huge accumulation of algae, cleaner fish live there very much.
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 people, despite its enormous size.
In the waters where Mola mola lives, often a kind of accident occurs with ships, especially small ones. Bodies can fall into the blades of large vessels or fall into boats, literally knock people down.
This species is caught only in Taiwan and Japan. By the way, the meat of the moon is considered delicious, although it is very flabby and tasteless. In Europe, she is not only not caught, but never served. And in our country, on sale you can find a product called "Moon Fish", but the womer is actually for sale.
Kuril phenomenon
In September last year, the Moon fish of 1,100 kg was caught on the Kuril Islands. Photos of this individual were on all news channels. Caught her near the island of Iturup. At first, the fishermen rejoiced at such a chic catch, but due to inexperience they could not drag it into a trawler. While she 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 tosses about 300 million eggs at a time, and does not worry about the fate of her children at all. That is why this species has a very low survival rate of offspring.
Moon fish is very difficult to keep in an aquarium. All individuals have a very small brain when compared with body size. The fish practically does not react to the threat, it is inactive and slow. She is often relished by the more daring representatives of the depths, sharks and other predators.