Sun fish found off the coast of Portugal, which set a new record (4 photos)

Off the Portuguese island of Faial in the North Atlantic ocean discovered a giant sunfish. Fish weighing 3 tons set a new world record, and became the heaviest bony fish on the planet.





Sunfish (Mola alexandrini, also moonfish or fish-head), found off the coast of the Portuguese island of Faial in North Atlantic Ocean, became the record holder. With a weight of almost 3 tons (2744 kilograms) it is recognized as the heaviest bony fish in the world. The find was reported by members of the Atlantic Naturalist Association, non-profit conservation and research organization. To unfortunately, the fish was dead, but benefited the scientists - they spent opening the fish, and studied it in detail.



The height of the fish was 3.6 meters, length - about 3.5 m. Researchers also analyzed the contents of her stomach, and took DNA samples. By According to a member of the team of scientists, José Gomez-Pereira, this is "an amazing find", which will reveal new information about this species of fish. By the way, the previous world record for "heaviest bony fish" was held by another giant sunfish caught in Japan in 1996 - she weighed a little less, about 2300 kg.





This fish was called "sunfish" not only because of round shaped body. These fish also bask in the sun near the surface. ocean - scientists believe that this is how they warm up after long diving into cold waters in search of prey. In addition, at the surface ocean, they replenish oxygen and attract seagulls, which collect parasites from them. Sunfish are distributed throughout the earth ball, but their exact number is unknown.