The ocean sunfish, known for its massive size and covered in various parasites, including its eyeballs, may not fit the typical image of a fish. In a detailed exploration on The Nature of Things 101, host Sarika Cullis-Suzuki delves into the unique characteristics of what could be considered one of the most peculiar fish in the world.
Describing the Mola mola, a type of ocean sunfish and one of the largest fish in the sea, Cullis-Suzuki highlights its unconventional features, such as a circular body, lack of a tail, and enormous fins. Using a life-size model, she showcases to co-host Anthony Morgan the fascinating aspects that make this fish so underappreciated.
Despite their ability to travel long distances and dive deep in search of food multiple times a day, ocean sunfish are prone to parasite infestations due to their slow movement, large body surface area, and movement through different water zones.
Cullis-Suzuki emphasizes the extent of parasitic presence on these fish, mentioning parasites on the skin, gills, fins, eyeballs, mouth, and intestines, with researchers identifying 73 different parasite species on the Mola mola and related sunfish species, some even having parasites of their own.
To combat these parasites, sunfish adopt unique behaviors like breaching, jumping out of the water and slamming back down, possibly to dislodge parasites. They also allow smaller fish and birds to feed on the parasites as another defense mechanism.
Despite existing knowledge about ocean sunfish, Cullis-Suzuki stresses the necessity for further research on this intriguing species, emphasizing that there is still much more to uncover.
For those interested in learning more, The Nature of Things 101 can be viewed on CBC Gem and The Nature of Things YouTube channel.