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Mola
A sunfish (or mola) is any fish in the Mola genus (family Molidae). The fishes develop their truncated, bullet-like shape because the back fin, with which they are born, never grows. Instead, it folds into itself as the creature matures, creating a rounded rudder called a clavus. Mola in Latin means "millstone" and describes the ocean sunfish’s somewhat circular shape. They are a silvery color and have a rough skin texture.
3 branches of this genus, most-observed first · about 3 known species
See this branch on the Wheel of Life →
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the old herbals & bestiaries
Garden of Malabar, Vol. 2 (Hortus Indicus Malabaricus)
Hendrik van Rheede · 1683 · p.65
Sacred Physics
Scheuchzer, Johan Jacob · 1728 · p.320
Commentaries on the Six Books of Pedanius Dioscorides on Medical Matter
Pietro Andrea Mattioli · 1565 · p.910
Discourses on the Six Books of Dioscorides
Dioscorides; Pietro Andrea Mattioli (comm.) · 1568 · p.1191
Discourses on the Six Books of Dioscorides
Dioscorides; Pietro Andrea Mattioli (comm.) · 1568 · p.1249
History of Animals, Book II: On Oviparous Quadrupeds
Conrad Gessner · 1586 · p.527
Musaeum metallicum
Ulisse Aldrovandi · 1648 · p.839
Garden of Malabar, Vol. 2 (Hortus Indicus Malabaricus)
Hendrik van Rheede · 1683 · p.77
Christoph Jakob Trew — Uitgezochte planten (1771)
Christoph Jakob Trew · 1771 · p.188
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Mola in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 49604.