Hoodwinker ocean sunfish

Mola tecta

Molid Fish of Coastal Waters

Temperate
Northern Hemisphere
Southern Hemisphere
Transcontinental
Marine fish
Africa
Oceania
Large
Temperate fish

The hoodwinker sunfish (Mola tecta) is a large and flat bony fish located in temperate waters. The Latin word "tecta" means hidden, and has been adopted as the name due to the fish blending among other species of sunfish for a prolonged time and only being discovered recently. Belonging to the family Molidae and genus Mola, the hoodwinker sunfish is closely related to the more widely known species: The ocean sunfish (Mola mola).

Class: Teleosts
Order: Puffers, Triggerfishes, and Allies
Family: Molidae
Genus: Mola
Maximum length: 242 cm
Water: Marine
Distribution: Widespread in the temperate waters of the Southern Hemisphere (with confirmed occurrence in the southeast of Australia (New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria), around New Zealand, off South Africa and Chilean waters) and with occasional, but presumably rare, occurrences in the Northern Hemisphere.

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