Molidae

Molidae is a family of giant ray-finned fish that include the famous ocean sunfish and others. They are part of the order Tetraodontiformes.

 Description 
The molas are different from other fishes. Instead, they have a large body looking like a giant fish head. They have the fewest vertebrae of any fish, with only 16 in Mola mola. Their skeleton is made of cartilage, much like a shark. They eat mushy animals like jellyfish and salps.

 Genera 

 Extant 

 Genus Masturus Gill, 1884
 Masturus lanceolatus (Liénard, 1840 - sharptail mola
 Genus Mola Blyth, 1860
 Mola mola Linnaeus, 1758 - ocean sunfish
 Mola alexandrini Giglioli, 1883 - giant sunfish
 Mola tecta Nyegaard et al., 2017 - hoodwinker sunfish
 Genus Ranzania Nardo, 1840
 Ranzania laevis Pennant, 1776 - slender sunfish

 Extinct 

 Eomola bimaxillaria
 Austromola angerhoferi


 References 

 Tyler, James C.; Bannikov, Alexandre F. (1992). "New genus of primitive ocean sunfish with separate premaxillae from the Eocene of Southwest Russia (Molidae, Tetraodontiformes)". Copeia. 1992 (4).
 "World's heaviest bony fish identified and correctly named". Springer.com. Retrieved 1 March 2019.

Category:Molidae