Imagine a fish that is shaped like a soccer ball but is flattened like a pancake and has one pointed fin on top and one on the bottom. It sounds like a child’s imagination. However, it is very real and is called a sunfish. It can measure up to 4 m, and the heaviest was recorded in the Azores, where one weighing more than 2,000 kilograms ran aground. This record fish was equal to the weight of a rhinoceros. Sunfish is the largest teleost fish in the world. Although it has an unconventional design, it can swim very quickly and dive to a depth of 500 m. What would be a building more than 150 stories high.

Its name comes from the moon baths it takes. The story goes that when the fishermen went out to work at night, they saw a white ball in the water and mistook it for the reflection of the full moon, but there was that fish lying on the surface. In English it is called sun fish, because even on sunny days you can see it lying on the surface. When sunfish visit the deep sea – which is very cold – they return to the surface to warm up.

The Galapagos is home to a rare species with red lips and small spines on its triangular body: the batfish.

This fish has a very funny face, with very small eyes and mouth compared to the rest of the body. Previously, it was believed that this fish feeds only on plankton, but recent research shows that it is a generalist predator. Eat from crabs to jellyfish and fish. Because of its distinctive appearance and delicious pancake shape, sunfish is a favorite snack of orcas, sharks, and even sea lions. Wolves play with it like a frisbee, while eating it bit by bit.

I remember the first time I saw a sunfish. I was 11 years old and it was my first trip to the Galapagos Islands. I was on a boat to the west of the island when I saw a large, pointy fin coming towards us. I thought it was a shark, but our guide explained that it was a mola (scientific genus of sunfish). My trip to the Galapagos, at that young age, changed my life and there I promised myself that one day I would work to protect that magical world, and I did.

invisible superheroes of the sea

There is a lot of mystique surrounding this fish. For example, for the Polynesians, this fish is the king of mackerel (fish similar to sardines). Accidentally catching or even killing them was a sign of great bad luck, as it would mean that the mackerel would not come near the island and the inhabitants would starve.

Mola can form groups when young, but as it grows it becomes completely solitary. A scientist I met recently mentioned that this fish represents the life of a biologist, that is, the path of science, since sometimes in the midst of research, laboratory work and writing, it is often very lonely.

Giant paddlefish: these are the areas where this species of slimy skin and 400 spines maintains its habitat

This got me thinking and I guess that just like this fish seeks the company of the sun and the moon lying on the surface of the sea, science, or what we are passionate about, can be company if we ever feel alone. (OR)