Mola tecta, the hoodwinker sunfish,[2] belongs to the family Molidae and genus Mola. It is closely related to the more widely known ocean sunfish (Mola mola). The Latin word "tecta" means hidden. The word "hidden" was adopted for the name because the fish has blended in among other species of sunfish for a long time and has only been discovered recently.[3] Discovered on a beach near Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2015, it was the first new species of sunfish to be identified in 130 years. Mola tecta are mostly discovered in the temperate region of the Southern Hemisphere in the water near Australia, New Zealand, Southern Chile and Southern Africa.[4] It was first described by Marianne Nyegaard, a marine scientist who studied ocean sunfish for her PhD.[5]
The hoodwinker sunfish is a congener of (in the same genus as) the more widely known ocean sunfish, Mola mola. Mola tecta, like other Mola species, has a flat, almost symmetrical oval shape. It has a smooth body shape, no bump and has a maximum length of 242cm (about 7.9 feet).[6] It does not have spines in its fins nor real caudal fin (tail fin).[6] Its scales have evolved into small spines. Like cartilaginous fish, Mola tecta has counter shading, which means that it has a darker color on the dorsal side than on the ventral side.[6] Compared to other Mola species, Mola tecta is slimmer, has a sleeker adult body shape, and lacks a protruding snout and lumps along the tail fin. It reaches up to three meters in length and can weigh up to two tonnes (2.0 long tons; 2.2 short tons).[7]Parasites are found in all the dissected Mola tecta.
Mola mola is the most common known ocean sunfish and was found in 1758 and Mola alexandrini (also called Mola ramsayi) was found 81 years afterward, in 1839.[8][9] In comparison to its two relatives, Mola tecta was found recently in 2014.[10] In 2004, ten years before Mola tecta was officially named in 2014, Japanese researchers found out that there was a new Mola species based on the genetic information they obtained from the Australian water. However, they were not able to obtain more information about this new Mola species and they did not know exactly what this Mola species looked like.[11] According to Nyegaard, the first person who described Mola tecta, the Mola tecta are hard to study because they are hard to find and their huge size makes them difficult to store. [12]
Distribution
Discovered on a beach near Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2014, the hoodwinker sunfish was the first new species of sunfish to be identified in 130 years.[7] It is thought to live primarily in the Southern Hemisphere and has been found in waters off New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and Chile.[7][13][14] There are, however, three recorded cases of it being found in the Northern Hemisphere: one (previously thought to be a Mola mola) in Ameland in the Netherlands in 1889[15] and a 7-foot (2.1m) specimen that washed up near Santa Barbara, California in 2019.[16][17][18]Mola alexandrini, another Mola species has been found in the Southern Pacific. Mola mola, in comparison, is the most widespread species and has been found in all the major oceans except for the polar area.[19]
Diet
Their diet consists of salps and nectonic siphonophore because these two organisms are found in the digestive tract of Mola tecta.[6]
^"Common names of Mola tecta". FishBase. 13 May 2008. from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
^"new giant sunfish species discovered". museum of new zealand te papa. 20 July 2017. from the original on 23 March 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
^Zdanowicz, Christina (March 4, 2019). "a huge, strange-looking fish washed up on a California beach. Scientist say it is a first". from the original on 23 March 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
^Leachman, Shelly (February 27, 2019). "Hoodwinked". from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
^ abcdNyegaard, Marianne. "Hiding in broad daylight: molecular and morphological data reveal a new ocean sunfish species (Tetraodontiformes: Molidae) that has eluded recognition". oxford academic. The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. from the original on 22 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
^ abcWilliams, Janice (24 July 2017). "New and biggest species of sunfish found in New Zealand after 130 years of searching". Newsweek. from the original on 29 January 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
^ abSawai, Etsuro (2018). "Redescription of the bump-head sunfish Mola alexandrini (Ranzani 1839), senior synonym of Mola ramsayi (Giglioli 1883), with designation of a neotype for Mola mola (Linnaeus 1758) (Tetraodontiformes: Molidae)". Ichthyological Research. 65: 142–160. doi:10.1007/s10228-017-0603-6. S2CID 10364811. from the original on 2021-07-03. Retrieved 2021-07-03.
^"fish identification : find species". fish identification : find species. from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
^EDT, Janice Williams On 7/24/17 at 3:44 PM (2017-07-24). "New and biggest species of sunfish found in New Zealand after 130 years of searching". Newsweek. from the original on 2019-03-27. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
^"new giant sunfish species discovered". museum of new zealand te papa. 20 July 2017. from the original on 23 March 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
^"new giant sunfish species discovered". museum of new zealand te papa. 20 July 2017. from the original on 23 March 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
^Lang, Hannah (20 July 2017). "Massive Two-Ton Fish Species Discovered". National Geographic. from the original on 24 July 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
^Sánchez, Rodrigo (29 August 2017). "Peces de Chile: El Mola Tecta o Pez Luna Timador". Buceando Chile (in Spanish). from the original on 2018-10-14. Retrieved 2018-10-14.
^. Leiden, NL: Naturalis Biodiversity Center. Archived from the original on 3 March 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
^"Hoodwinker sunfish: Rare fish washes up on California beach". BBC News. 2 March 2019. from the original on 30 March 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
^"Rare sea creature washes ashore in Southern California". Associated Press. 1 March 2019. from the original on 30 May 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
^Zdanowicz, Christina (1 March 2019). "A huge, strange-looking fish washed up on a California beach. Scientists say it's a first". CNN. from the original on 23 March 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
^"Fish Identification". fish base. from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
Further reading
Nyegaard, M.; et al. (2017). "Hiding in broad daylight: molecular and morphological data reveal a new ocean sunfish species (Tetraodontiformes: Molidae) that has eluded recognition". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 182 (3): 631–658. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlx040.
mola, tecta, hoodwinker, sunfish, belongs, family, molidae, genus, mola, closely, related, more, widely, known, ocean, sunfish, mola, mola, latin, word, tecta, means, hidden, word, hidden, adopted, name, because, fish, blended, among, other, species, sunfish, . Mola tecta the hoodwinker sunfish 2 belongs to the family Molidae and genus Mola It is closely related to the more widely known ocean sunfish Mola mola The Latin word tecta means hidden The word hidden was adopted for the name because the fish has blended in among other species of sunfish for a long time and has only been discovered recently 3 Discovered on a beach near Christchurch New Zealand in 2015 it was the first new species of sunfish to be identified in 130 years Mola tecta are mostly discovered in the temperate region of the Southern Hemisphere in the water near Australia New Zealand Southern Chile and Southern Africa 4 It was first described by Marianne Nyegaard a marine scientist who studied ocean sunfish for her PhD 5 Mola tectaConservation statusCITES Appendix II CITES 1 Scientific classificationDomain EukaryotaKingdom AnimaliaPhylum ChordataClass ActinopterygiiOrder TetraodontiformesFamily MolidaeGenus MolaSpecies M tectaBinomial nameMola tectaNyegaard et al 2017Mola tecta compared to Mola alexandrini Contents 1 Description 2 History 3 Distribution 4 Diet 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External linksDescription EditThe hoodwinker sunfish is a congener of in the same genus as the more widely known ocean sunfish Mola mola Mola tecta like other Mola species has a flat almost symmetrical oval shape It has a smooth body shape no bump and has a maximum length of 242cm about 7 9 feet 6 It does not have spines in its fins nor real caudal fin tail fin 6 Its scales have evolved into small spines Like cartilaginous fish Mola tecta has counter shading which means that it has a darker color on the dorsal side than on the ventral side 6 Compared to other Mola species Mola tecta is slimmer has a sleeker adult body shape and lacks a protruding snout and lumps along the tail fin It reaches up to three meters in length and can weigh up to two tonnes 2 0 long tons 2 2 short tons 7 Parasites are found in all the dissected Mola tecta History EditThere are three extant species under the genus Mola Mola mola Mola alexandrini and Mola tecta 8 Mola mola geant BaliMola mola is the most common known ocean sunfish and was found in 1758 and Mola alexandrini also called Mola ramsayi was found 81 years afterward in 1839 8 9 In comparison to its two relatives Mola tecta was found recently in 2014 10 In 2004 ten years before Mola tecta was officially named in 2014 Japanese researchers found out that there was a new Mola species based on the genetic information they obtained from the Australian water However they were not able to obtain more information about this new Mola species and they did not know exactly what this Mola species looked like 11 According to Nyegaard the first person who described Mola tecta the Mola tecta are hard to study because they are hard to find and their huge size makes them difficult to store 12 Distribution EditDiscovered on a beach near Christchurch New Zealand in 2014 the hoodwinker sunfish was the first new species of sunfish to be identified in 130 years 7 It is thought to live primarily in the Southern Hemisphere and has been found in waters off New Zealand Australia South Africa and Chile 7 13 14 There are however three recorded cases of it being found in the Northern Hemisphere one previously thought to be a Mola mola in Ameland in the Netherlands in 1889 15 and a 7 foot 2 1m specimen that washed up near Santa Barbara California in 2019 16 17 18 Mola alexandrini another Mola species has been found in the Southern Pacific Mola mola in comparison is the most widespread species and has been found in all the major oceans except for the polar area 19 Diet EditTheir diet consists of salps and nectonic siphonophore because these two organisms are found in the digestive tract of Mola tecta 6 References Edit Appendices CITES cites org Retrieved 2022 01 14 Common names of Mola tecta FishBase 13 May 2008 Archived from the original on 4 April 2019 Retrieved 24 March 2019 new giant sunfish species discovered museum of new zealand te papa 20 July 2017 Archived from the original on 23 March 2019 Retrieved 22 March 2019 Zdanowicz Christina March 4 2019 a huge strange looking fish washed up on a California beach Scientist say it is a first Archived from the original on 23 March 2019 Retrieved 22 March 2019 Leachman Shelly February 27 2019 Hoodwinked Archived from the original on 21 March 2019 Retrieved 22 March 2019 a b c d Nyegaard Marianne Hiding in broad daylight molecular and morphological data reveal a new ocean sunfish species Tetraodontiformes Molidae that has eluded recognition oxford academic The Linnean Society of London Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society Archived from the original on 22 March 2019 Retrieved 23 March 2019 a b c Williams Janice 24 July 2017 New and biggest species of sunfish found in New Zealand after 130 years of searching Newsweek Archived from the original on 29 January 2018 Retrieved 29 January 2018 a b Sawai Etsuro 2018 Redescription of the bump head sunfish Mola alexandrini Ranzani 1839 senior synonym of Mola ramsayi Giglioli 1883 with designation of a neotype for Mola mola Linnaeus 1758 Tetraodontiformes Molidae Ichthyological Research 65 142 160 doi 10 1007 s10228 017 0603 6 S2CID 10364811 Archived from the original on 2021 07 03 Retrieved 2021 07 03 fish identification find species fish identification find species Archived from the original on 4 April 2019 Retrieved 22 March 2019 EDT Janice Williams On 7 24 17 at 3 44 PM 2017 07 24 New and biggest species of sunfish found in New Zealand after 130 years of searching Newsweek Archived from the original on 2019 03 27 Retrieved 2019 04 03 new giant sunfish species discovered museum of new zealand te papa 20 July 2017 Archived from the original on 23 March 2019 Retrieved 22 March 2019 new giant sunfish species discovered museum of new zealand te papa 20 July 2017 Archived from the original on 23 March 2019 Retrieved 22 March 2019 Lang Hannah 20 July 2017 Massive Two Ton Fish Species Discovered National Geographic Archived from the original on 24 July 2017 Retrieved 22 July 2017 Sanchez Rodrigo 29 August 2017 Peces de Chile El Mola Tecta o Pez Luna Timador Buceando Chile in Spanish Archived from the original on 2018 10 14 Retrieved 2018 10 14 New in the autumn collection of Naturalis Mola tecta Leiden NL Naturalis Biodiversity Center Archived from the original on 3 March 2019 Retrieved 1 March 2019 Hoodwinker sunfish Rare fish washes up on California beach BBC News 2 March 2019 Archived from the original on 30 March 2021 Retrieved 3 July 2021 Rare sea creature washes ashore in Southern California Associated Press 1 March 2019 Archived from the original on 30 May 2019 Retrieved 3 July 2021 Zdanowicz Christina 1 March 2019 A huge strange looking fish washed up on a California beach Scientists say it s a first CNN Archived from the original on 23 March 2019 Retrieved 1 March 2019 Fish Identification fish base Archived from the original on 4 April 2019 Retrieved 24 March 2019 Further reading EditNyegaard M et al 2017 Hiding in broad daylight molecular and morphological data reveal a new ocean sunfish species Tetraodontiformes Molidae that has eluded recognition Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 182 3 631 658 doi 10 1093 zoolinnean zlx040 External links EditThe hoodwinker sunfish discussed in RNZ Critter of the Week 29 April 2022 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mola tecta amp oldid 1119440086, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
