South Africa 2004

(From Left to Right)Fearless South African tag team— David Christie, Tierney Thys, Ed Hall, Anthony Lennox. Notice Anthony got nicked by the mola on his chin. Ouch!) January 2004 January was a great month for the mola team in South Africa! Working with the highly...

Taiwan 2000

Recipe for successful fieldwork in Taiwanese waters Necessary ingredients: 2 guiding hands of Dr. I.C. Liao 20+ helping hands from Taiwan Fisheries Research Institute (TFRI) staff members, especially Mr. Stephen Huang 1-3 satisfied government officials 60+ helping...

Early Life

Molas produce an impressive number of eggs. A 1.4 m (4.5 ft) female was estimated to be carrying 300 million eggs in her single unpaired ovary. ( Note while male molas have paired testes, females have unpaired gonads.) 300 million is greater than most other fishes and...

Life History

  Mola mola (Common mola) The most common and widespread of ocean sunfish in the northern hemisphere is Mola mola. These fish, like all ocean sunfishes, appear as if their bodies have been somehow truncated leaving them little more than a large head punctuated...