A new study shows that a 6000-pound giant sunfish found in Azores is the heaviest bone fish on record.
Researchers stood next to the giant 6000-pound sunfish because it was found floating on the sea without any breath. Image source: Atlantic Naturalists Association
According to a new study, a huge 3-ton sunfish recently discovered near the Portuguese island set a new world record for the heaviest bone fish ever.
This scale-tilted behemoth, known as the giant sunfish or convex sunfish (Mola Alexandrini), was discovered on December 9, 2021 because it floated lifelessly on the coast of Fayar Island in the Azores - the Azores - the Portuguese Islands of the North Atlantic . According to a statement from the Atlantic Naturalists Association, local authorities brought the heavy body back to the port for proper research to be conducted on it, a non-profit conservation and research institution located on Fayar Island.
researchers performed an autopsy on giant sunfish and detailed the results in a new study published October 11 in the Journal of Fish Biology. The huge fish is about 12 feet (3.6 meters) tall, about 11 feet (3.5 meters) long, weighs 6,049 pounds (2,744 kg), or about 3 tons (2.7 metric tons). According to the statement, the researchers also analyzed the contents of the sunfish's stomach and collected its DNA sample.
The dead fish is a truly “magnificent specimen”, the lead author of the study, and the marine biology scientist José Nuno Gomes-Pereira, from the Society of Atlantic Naturalists, told Live Science in an email. He added that pictures of its body do not show how incredible it was to appear in the water.
According to the Guinness World Record, another giant sunfish caught in Japan in 1996 maintained the world record for the heaviest bone fish, weighing about 5,070 pounds (2,300 kg).
Researchers used mechanical winch to weigh giant sunfish. (Image source: Association of Atlantic Naturalists)
According to the statement, the sunfish are named not because of their round shape, but because they bathe in the sunlight on the surface of the ocean, which scientists believe is how they reheat themselves after long periods of diving into cold, dark waters looking for food.
Giant Sunfish was previously misclassified as an unusually large individual of the more common marine sunfish (Mola mola), growing to about half the recently discovered giant lizard . M. Alexandrini was listed as a unique species in 2018, thanks to a study published in the journal Imyodic Research.
Giant Sunfish can be found worldwide, but their exact number is not yet known.
