#2131 · 🐟 fish
Common Mola
🇳🇱 Maanvis ·Mola mola
📍 Monterey County, CA, USA
📍 Santa Monica Bay, Redondo Beach, CA, US
📍 Australia, South Australia, Coorong
📍 Grosseto, Arcipelago Toscano National Park, Toscana, IT
📍 St Ouens Bay
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © blacktip · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © Craig Callender · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © carel van der Colff · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © ludovicjolicoeur · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. © carel van der Colff · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. Monterey County, CA, USA:© Ted Judah · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. Santa Monica Bay, Redondo Beach, CA, US:© Zach Fratello · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 8. Australia, South Australia, Coorong:© Ralph Foster · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. Grosseto, Arcipelago Toscano National Park, Toscana, IT:© Le Gallais · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. St Ouens Bay:© Chris Isaacs · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
The ocean sunfish or common mola ( Mola mola ) is the heaviest known bony fish in the world. Adults typically weigh between 247 and 1,000 kg (545–2,205 lb). The species is native to tropical and temperate waters around the globe. It resembles a fish head with a tail, and its main body is flattened laterally. Sunfish can be as tall as they are long when their dorsal and ventral fins are extended.
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- Spotted 8 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist.
- 4,569 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named in 1758 (268 years ago).
- Listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
fact sheet
- English
- Common Mola
- Nederlands
- Maanvis
- scientific name
- Mola mola
- class
- Actinopterygii
- order
- Tetraodontiformes
- family
- Molidae
- IUCN Red List
- VU · vulnerable
- sightings in NL
- 8
- sightings in Europe
- 288
- sightings worldwide
- 4,569
- GBIF records in NL
- 306
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1758
IUCN in Dutch: kwetsbaar. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 49601, Wikidata Q192285, GBIF 5213725, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.