Mola Mola Identification Guide

Key identification features

• Enormous, flattened, disc- or oval-shaped body that looks almost cut off at the rear
• No true tail fin; instead a rounded, rippled edge called the clavus formed by fused dorsal and anal fin rays
• Tall dorsal fin and matching tall anal fin set high and low, mirroring each other
• Small, beak-like mouth and small round eye
• Thick, rough, gray to brown mottled skin, sometimes with pale blotches
• Massive size, commonly 1.8-3 m and among the heaviest bony fish alive

Common look-alikes

• Sharptail mola: nearly identical overall shape but has a pointed projection at the rear of the clavus rather than the smoothly rounded edge of a mola mola
• Slender sunfish: more elongated body with a narrower profile and reduced clavus compared to the rounder mola mola
• Juvenile pufferfish: far smaller, retains a normal tail fin, and can inflate its body, none of which apply to a mola mola

Where you'll see one

Mola mola inhabit temperate and tropical open ocean waters worldwide, often spotted basking on their side at the surface, where the tall dorsal fin can be mistaken from a distance for a shark fin.