Ocean Sunfish

This strange fish captivates me since years. I started scuba diving in 1990 and soon found myself fascinated by many kind of fish - but none was ever that strange as the Ocean Sunfish.

It's not only that its females carry about 300 million eggs and with this number establishes a record, or that with a recorded specimen of more than two tons, it's the worlds heaviest bony fish. It further is protected by a skin that's 10cm thick and an ugly taste keeping it save from mankind.

Furthermore this fish looks strange as if it originates from another world and its behaviour is calm and the movement is slow. Experiencing a contact with these giants gives the impression they are creating their own private universe when accompaning kelp islands drifting along on the surface of endless seas.

By chance this was the time I've been seeking for a domain name to build a platform for contributing back to the internet community (another hobby of mine is the operating system Linux, IT in general and hype communication technology like IPTV in particular). Suddenly the path went clear and I decided to dedicate my page to Ocean Sunfish – combining these two major interests.

Where does the name come from?

The latin word mola means millstone (because of these fishes’ roundish shape that makes it look like a millstone). Mola mola's habit of lying atop the surface gives the impression of taking a sunbath and that way originated the common name "sunfish".

The marine family ("molidae") is used by scientific literature and the common names "sunfish" and "mola" are used to describe this species.