Last Update : Sunday 11 November, 2001 7:47 PM
Last Update : Sunday 11 November, 2001 7:47 PM |
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| Illust : Anuwat Saisaeng |
| Ocean sunfish | |
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Scientific name |
Mola mola |
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Common name |
Ocean sunfish |
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Size |
2 meters |
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Dispersion |
Andaman Sea and Gulf of Thailand. But you will not see them. |
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Area found |
At water surface, found in remote islands. |
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Depth |
1 – 100 meters |
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Feed on |
Jellyfish |
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Situation |
If found, consider yourself luckier than winning the first prize at lottery. |
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Conservation |
So very greatly difficult to find. No need to do anything. |
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Fish Tip |
Pay him an homage if you meet him. Your probability is 0.0000001. |
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It is like looking for a trouble trying to write about this fish because I have never seen one in my life. No one that I know has ever met him either. If you asked whether he could be found in Thailand, I would say yes. I have seen one sample at Marine Biology Center in Phuket. There is also one sample at the Faculty of Fisheries, Kasetsart University. If you want to see him alive, you have to go to Japan. Some aquarium keeps him. Japanese is particularly fond of him because he looks peculiar. If you read Japanese comic books, may be you see him swimming around.
Ocean sunfish, or what I call Mola mola, is in Family Molidae. There are two species of them, if I am not mistaken. But every one talks about Mola mola, who has a very uncommon evolution. All his fins have reduced in shape, leaving only very large dorsal and anal fins, used to wave back and forth in order to move forward. Normally he stays in the middle of water or near the water surface. The large ones can be a ton weight. The sample found in Thailand was about the size of a car tyre, which was considered a young Mola.
Mola lives in the ocean around the world, both in tropical and temperate climate. Probability to come near to the reef is very slim. He is mainly found by chance in the middle of the sea. In Philippines, there is a special diving trip to go after Mola only. They use the phrase “Mola or nothing”. If you do not see Mola, you will see nothing else because the area is not a coral reef. It is a place in the middle of the sea with current that Mola usually floats around. Any one who wants to see him can try to join this tour program. Neither anyone I know nor I have ever been on this tour. So, I am unable to describe it.
Writing about a fish that I have never seen except in the aquarium, is something I have never done before. But I would like to do it this time because Mola is lovely. He is a fish in many people’s minds. I hope one day before I die, I will save enough money to make a trip to see Mola in the middle of the ocean. That will make me die in peace.
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