SUPER SURPRISE THURSDAY GREATEST HITS!!

SUPER SURPRISE THURSDAY GREATEST HITS

Happy Super Surprise Thursday! We’ve gone back to the ocean today to find an amazing animal friend for you to meet! This large, slow moving fish is pretty special, because you won’t see any fish like them! Let’s meet…

MEET THE OCEAN SUNFISH!

   Range/Habitat: Tropical-Temperate Waters Worldwide

   Diet:  Carnivore: jellies, squid, crustaceans

   Length/Weight: 6 ft-13 ft/ 1-2 tons

   Conservation Status: Common

Fun Facts:

• Ocean Sunfish are the heaviest bony fish in the world.
• They have disk shaped bodies and elongated dorsal (top) and anal (bottom) fins.
• Ocean sunfish have beak like mouths for snipping at jellies.
• Their skeletons are made up of lots of cartilage (the tissue in your ears and nose) as well as bone.
• Ocean sunfish are fairly slow moving and clumsy looking when swimming.
• Ocean sunfish can be seen basking in the sun near the surface of the ocean.
• Ocean sunfish scientific name is Mola Mola. It comes from the Latin that means millstone, because they look like giant round stones!

Mola mola or Ocean Sunfish sure are some crazy looking fish! And isn’t mola mola fun to say? We continue to be fascinated by the different creatures who inhabit our oceans!