Do you have photos of Sunfish (aka Mola) sighted off the coast of British Columbia or Alaska? If you do, you can help research into these fascinating fish.
It’s so exciting that there are actually two species of Mola in the NE Pacific Ocean – the Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola) AND the Hoodwinker Sunfish (Mola tecta).
As the name “Hoodwinker” suggests. Mola tecta was hiding in plain sight. (“tecta” also means “hidden” in Latin). It was only in 2017 that research was published on the very existence of the species and it was thought to only range in the temperate waters of the southern hemisphere. Only since 2019 has it been questioned whether they are found in colder waters and – they sure are! They’ve been mistaken as being Mola mola.
The following research has now been published, greatly aided by photo contributions by the public. Thank you to all of you who contributed your photos for this research project.
Mowatt-Larssen T, Thys TM, Hildering J, Caldera EJ, Biesack EE, McDowell JR and Nyegaard M (2025) Hook, line, and social media: crowd-sourced images reveal size and species patterns of ocean sunfishes (Tetraodontiformes, Molidae) from California to Alaska. Front. Mar. Sci.
The interest in these species continues. If you have photos of Mola, please contribute your data to iNaturalist via this link. Mola researcher, Dr. Marianne Nyegaard, will then report back to you with the ID. If you have found a dead Mola, getting a tissue sample is of great value. Please click here to generate an email to get instructions.
Further resources:
- Mowatt-Larssen T, Thys TM, Hildering J, Caldera EJ, Biesack EE, McDowell JR and Nyegaard M (2025) Hook, line, and social media: crowd-sourced images reveal size and species patterns of ocean sunfishes (Tetraodontiformes, Molidae) from California to Alaska. Front. Mar. Sci.
- June 7, 2024 – Recording of Dr. Marianne Nyegaard’s MERS Ocean Day webinar on Mola.
- March 1, 2021 – Presentation by Dr. Marianne Nyegaard on Mola tecta
- February 2, 2021 – CBC article “Meet the Hoodwinker, the ocean sunfish we misidentified for years”
- Nyegaard, M., E. Sawai, N. Gemmell, J. Gillum, N.R. Loneragan, Y. Yamanoue and A.L. Stewart, 2017. Hiding in broad daylight: molecular and morphological data reveal a new ocean sunfish species (Tetrodontiformes: Molidae) that has eluded recognition. Zool. J. of the Linn. Soc., 1-28.
