August 15, 2002

6:32 AM

Of all the creatures in the sea, this fish is one of the most bewildering and fantastic.
posted by hama7 (59 comments total)

What's up with the superimposed © symbols over the images in link # 2?

Is there really that much of a market for pirated mola mola pics? Or just yet another sign that the Web is not the neighborhood it once was...
posted by Fupped Duck at 6:38 AM on August 15, 2002

Very interesting, hama. I knew a little bit about these guys, but I never knew they were so damn big! Thanks for the links and pretty pictures.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 6:43 AM on August 15, 2002

From link #1:

The puffer fish is the mola's closest living relative and bears many biomechanical similarities.

Cool! And the pufferfish is so tiny. That's like having Daschunds and English Sheepdogs as the only two species of dog on the planet.
posted by thewittyname at 6:44 AM on August 15, 2002 [1 favorite]

"I am the crazy molaphoto bandit! I will steal all your molaphotos...Curse you, copyright guy! How will I feed my family now?"
posted by ColdChef at 6:44 AM on August 15, 2002 [1 favorite]

Also, what makes them "bewildering?"
posted by ColdChef at 6:47 AM on August 15, 2002

They might not be man eaters but they've been known to suck people's heads into their mouths to give them a taste before spitting them back out again.
posted by KnitWit at 6:50 AM on August 15, 2002

They live in igloos. That's pretty bewildering.
posted by Fabulon7 at 6:51 AM on August 15, 2002

"bewildering" is the (not obvious?) size, diet, shape, size, color, size, et cetera. And they are HUGE!
posted by hama7 at 6:51 AM on August 15, 2002 [1 favorite]

Ocean sunfish are occasionally mauled by California sea lions... reportedly because the sea lions eat the mola's internal organs and perhaps just for "sport."

That's pretty damn grusome. I looked for more information on this, but couldn't find any.
posted by Samsonov14 at 6:52 AM on August 15, 2002

I also had no idea of their size. The rest of the site is pretty interesting as well.
Thanks
posted by a3matrix at 6:53 AM on August 15, 2002

My question, though: are they tasty?

They sure look tasty.
posted by crnixon at 6:56 AM on August 15, 2002

So... Is thems good eatin'?

(Look, I've given up mammals and most birds. LEAVE ME MY SEAFOOD!)
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 6:56 AM on August 15, 2002

I just like the fact that they "slurp up jellyfish".
posted by Ufez Jones at 6:58 AM on August 15, 2002

Wow - jellyfish and human-head sucking megafish. Like a manatee crossed with a yacht.

Wouldn't it be cool to have an army of them?

Oh oh oh - who's in for Mola versus Snakehead?
posted by Marquis at 6:59 AM on August 15, 2002

Heh. Two appetites with but a single thought.

They're bony fish, though, and look like they're all head - how tasty can a giant, bony head be?

(okay, run with that phrase, jokesters)
posted by yhbc at 6:59 AM on August 15, 2002

Also, what makes them "bewildering?"

I figured it was the transparent © (sea) parasite. Also seen here.

posted by BirdD0g at 6:59 AM on August 15, 2002

Well they are not only HUGE, but lack any qualities that would have thrust them into the Darwinian theory.

Imagine being as large as a rhinocerous and having to subsist on mushrooms!

Utterly amazing!
posted by hama7 at 7:07 AM on August 15, 2002

I agree with the jellyfish eating comment. I do not like stinging jellyfish. Swam face first into one in swimming lessons as a kid. So anything that dines on them is welcome to them, with my appreciation.
posted by a3matrix at 7:08 AM on August 15, 2002

Weird, I almost ran over one of these things last summer when I was sailing along the Costa Brava in Spain. It was floating right at the surface with that spiky dorsal fin sticking up into the air. Our padrone (skipper) informed us that they are indeed good eatin'.
posted by MrBaliHai at 7:08 AM on August 15, 2002

spotted one in the Firth of Forth (Edinburgh) a couple of years ago, very peculiar, same thing , the fin was flapping around in a lazy way, I thought it was a seabird caught in some net flapping it's wing.
posted by johnny novak at 7:13 AM on August 15, 2002

Funny how you'll never notice something, and them BAM it's everywhere. I just saw one of these in a documentary last night.

Well they are not only HUGE, but lack any qualities that would have thrust them into the Darwinian theory.

Come again?
posted by briank at 7:14 AM on August 15, 2002

Thewittyname: pufferfish aren't always that tiny. Some of them can get pretty damn big -- big enough that they could easily take off one of your fingers if you give them the chance. (Boxfish tend to be smaller.)
posted by ptermit at 7:14 AM on August 15, 2002

Well they are not only HUGE, but lack any qualities that would have thrust them into the Darwinian theory.

HUGE is often a survival trait. If you're bigger than the local predators, you're safe from them (on a one on one basis anyway). I draw your attention to the mighty elephant.

Our padrone (skipper) informed us that they are indeed good eatin'.

Of course HUGE stops being a survival trait when the predator in question is man. A fishfleshcrazy man. With a bib and a harpoon.

*looks at pictures again, drools*
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 7:14 AM on August 15, 2002

it's almost like you could swim inside :) the belly of the mola!
posted by kliuless at 7:14 AM on August 15, 2002

I saw one while at the beach in NY several years ago. We saw the large fin perhaps 100 yards off shore and assumed shark. A lifeguard said it was an ocean sunfish. One brave man jumped on his surfboard and paddled towards it. I followed on my board. The fish was enormous, like a small car. It was swimming on its side, occasionally flopping over. We got very close, close enough to touch it, although I didn't. It seemed completely unconcerned about our presence. It just lolled in the water staring at us with its huge eye.
posted by TimeFactor at 7:16 AM on August 15, 2002

I saw one in an aquarium in Osaka, Japan, and even though there were sharks and all other manner of fish frolicking about, I couldn't take my eyes off the ghostly pale specter of this huge ocean sunfish, which was completely placid, except for the occasional twitches of those two fins.
posted by hama7 at 7:16 AM on August 15, 2002

Back when I was a boy in Ecuador, we used to participate in a traditional contest to see who could "catch" the largest ocean sunfish (or, as we called them, arpado or "ghost fish".) All the boys in the village would venture out to sea in our canoes in the early morning, dropping partially-water-filled plastic bags onto the surface to emulate the appearance of jellyfish, which would usually draw the arpado in by midday. Once they began to approach the surface, we would pummel them with bats until they were unconscious, and would then tie them to our boats and bring them to shore.

I'm not sure we ever actually ate the fish, but whenever I hear the dull whomp of something being hit by a bat, it brings back the memories of my youth, the ocean, and my little island in the sun...

Wait, wait. All of that was lies. I grew up in Illinois and Florida.
posted by Danelope at 7:44 AM on August 15, 2002

bewildering and fantastic? ladies and gentlemen, i give you dickfish!
warning: 11.9 megabyte quicktime for the bandwidth challenged
posted by quonsar at 7:46 AM on August 15, 2002

If anyone in the Bay Area is interested in seeing live ocean sunfish, they have some at the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Open Water Exhibit. I don't recall them being as large as the ones in these photographs, but still neat to see. According to the website, sunfish "sometimes bask at the surface and occasionally jump from the water."
posted by robbie01 at 7:46 AM on August 15, 2002

In Sweden these are called lumpish. That translates into lump of fish. Pretty appropriate.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 7:49 AM on August 15, 2002

What? Damn you, spell check. They're called klumpfiskar.
Not that it matters, but still.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 7:50 AM on August 15, 2002

this is all fine and good, but are they SEXY enough for my pal?

Also, I wasn't being flip when I asked why you used the word "bewildering." Sorry if it came off that way.

Imagine being as large as a rhinocerous and having to subsist on mushrooms!

Thanks, that answers my question.
posted by ColdChef at 8:00 AM on August 15, 2002

Are they yummy?:
One factor that the mola can appreciate is that it is not highly demanded in the food market. For some reason the thousands of parasites that it hosts does not appeal to human appetites.
posted by ColdChef at 8:11 AM on August 15, 2002

You call 'em parasites. I call 'em stuffing.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 8:22 AM on August 15, 2002

we would pummel them with bats until they were unconscious

You had bats? Our village was so poor that we had to pummel the wily arpado with our aged and infirm. Afterwards, when we had sated our ravenous hunger by devouring the fish's sweet flesh, the tribe shaman doled out the hallucinogenic parasites to our bravest warriors and we all dreamed the dreams of the Ghost Fish until dawn.
posted by MrBaliHai at 8:33 AM on August 15, 2002

"Metafilter Blue" looks kind of washed out in comparison to the color of that beautiful water the molas are swimming in.
posted by Junker George at 9:45 AM on August 15, 2002

One factor that the mola can appreciate is that it is not highly demanded in the food market.

Probably just a matter of time. Slimehead becomes "orange roughy" and the Patagonian toothfish becomes "Chilean sea bass"; and you see them all the time on menus now. The fishing industry could decide that the mola is next.

(Against my will, I'm picturing klumpfiskar on huge plates drenched in butter and salt)
posted by kurumi at 9:54 AM on August 15, 2002

(Look, I've given up mammals and most birds. LEAVE ME MY SEAFOOD!)
posted by PinkStainlessTail

MOST birds? What birds DO you eat???
posted by agregoli at 10:13 AM on August 15, 2002

The ones that taste good deep fried and go "cluck". Other than that I'm clean.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 10:16 AM on August 15, 2002

Uh, most people who eat meat eat chicken. I don't have any friends who eat anything other than chicken and turkey for their meat. Did you used to eat other birds besides chicken?
posted by agregoli at 10:30 AM on August 15, 2002

Why do I suspect this will turn into a discussion of cannibalism in about five posts?
posted by briank at 10:32 AM on August 15, 2002

{oh what a glorious highjack..}
Pheasant, goose, grouse, duck, dove... game birds. I come from a hunting family (though I never had the inclination myself).
Basically, I'm one of those "I'm a vegetarian except for fish and chicken" people. I really miss beastflesh and I'll probably stop eating chicken, so I overcompensate on fish.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 10:37 AM on August 15, 2002

I eat meat, so don't worry about the post disintegrating. That's cool, PinkStainlessTail. I've never eaten any other birds, so that's unique to me.
posted by agregoli at 10:38 AM on August 15, 2002

And people. I still enjoy a nice bowl of long pig.

(just for you briank)
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 10:38 AM on August 15, 2002

Sure. There's duck, goose, grouse, guinea fowl, quail, pheasant, cornish game hens, emu, ostrich, partridge, poussin, squab...

Well, just go here.
posted by Danelope at 10:39 AM on August 15, 2002

Last week I had a wonderful, close encounter with a mola mola, while in my boat, about a half mile out of Point Judith Rhode Island. Initially, I saw its dorsal fin above the surface, and like a lot of folks who spot them, thought it might be a large shark. I slowly cruised over to get a better look. Amazingly, the fish didn't seem to mind my approach. Probably helped that my 4- stroke Suzuki outboard is very quiet. For about 10 minutes, I circled around this very cool creature, within 5-6 feet of where it floated just beneath the surface. I estimated its size at about 5 feet long and around 200 pounds. It had a couple of scars on its back, likely the result of being hit by boats. I suppose that's the unfortunate price they pay for their habit of lolling on the surface. All in all, a very memorable, other-worldly experience with a giant swimming head.
posted by martk at 10:44 AM on August 15, 2002

A fantastic fishy indeed, be the mola. I'd love to see one of them up close. One fish I'd not like to see up close would be the hagfish, which is more disgusting than fantastic, and more horrific than bewildering. Fear the ooze.
posted by picea at 10:49 AM on August 15, 2002

That is one strange fish. I thought it's shape seemed like a crummy design, until I saw photo F003 on this page, where it suddenly looks like a wide bodied space shuttle. Perspective, eh?

I've always been a big fan of that ink-squriting, tentacled, papillae-sprouting possesor of chromatophores, iridophores, and leucophores, the cuttlefish.

Oh, and here's some cuttlefish recipes.
posted by dglynn at 10:56 AM on August 15, 2002

Oh, my God.

Cooking with hagfish slime.
posted by yhbc at 10:57 AM on August 15, 2002

One very useful trick hagfish have developed is the ability to tie themselves in knots, and be able to slide in and out of this knot. This can be used to escape predators, to clean themselves of slime, and to work their way into a carcass.

awesome :)

They can also sneeze to unclog their nostrils of their own slime.

YES! *chuff*
posted by kliuless at 11:03 AM on August 15, 2002

Oh, my God. Cooking with hagfish slime.

OH THE HUMANITY!
posted by Danelope at 12:03 PM on August 15, 2002

Hey, there's a band called Hagfish as well! And apparently they rock my lame ass.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 1:29 PM on August 15, 2002

pardon me if I have missed anyone else mentioning this, but I took it that the C mark was a signature/patent/trademark of the photographer. nice pictures.
posted by Stars Kitten at 1:37 PM on August 15, 2002

Sort of look like Halibut.
posted by Scottk at 1:44 PM on August 15, 2002

...and for all of you who wants to be bored to death, the swedish name for the hagfish is pirål. I suppose that can be translated into "pier eel".

Allow me to make amends with a cool search engine I found. Although maybe you've all seen it?
posted by soundofsuburbia at 1:48 PM on August 15, 2002

My vote for most bewildering goes to the mimic octopus, which I learned of in this Mefi thread.
posted by homunculus at 2:08 PM on August 15, 2002

From the mimic octopus site:

"Stay away from me because I'm like nothing you've ever seen before."

That's my motto from this day forward.

And horray for the Mola! I do wonder why its skin looks so baggy and creepy, though. Kinda reminds me of this from one of today's other threads.

Another question about our big, slurpy, fish-head friend: Why are parasites so attracted to it? Do other sea animal have this same parasite problem?
posted by evanizer at 2:57 PM on August 15, 2002

I think most fish are parasite-infested. I believe this enough to have severely curtailed my sashimi-eating habits. [sigh.]
posted by five fresh fish at 8:11 PM on August 15, 2002

No thumbs. It's a big problem in the sub-primate world. You can't scratch your back? Hey, Mr. Mola-Mola can't freakin' scratch anything! No wonder the poor dudes get hangers-on.
posted by yhbc at 10:25 PM on August 15, 2002