Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) >
Tetraodontiformes (Puffers and filefishes) >
Molidae (Molas or Ocean Sunfishes)
Etymology: Masturus: Greek, mastax, -agos = bite + Greek, oura = tail (Ref. 45335).
Environment / Climate / Range
Ecology
Marine; brackish; bathypelagic; depth range ? - 670 m (Ref. 36453). Deep-water, preferred ?; 37°N - 35°S
Circumglobal: In tropical to subtropical waters. Western Atlantic: North Carolina, USA (Ref. 7251) to southeastern Brazil (Ref. 36453).
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 337 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 6952); max. published weight: 2.0 t (Ref. 4424)
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Tortonese, E., 1990. Molidae. p. 1077-1079. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 2. (Ref. 6952)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)
CITES (Ref. 94142)
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
More information
Common namesSynonymsMetabolismPredatorsEcotoxicologyReproductionMaturitySpawningFecundityEggsEgg development
ReferencesAquacultureAquaculture profileStrainsGeneticsAllele frequenciesHeritabilityDiseasesProcessingMass conversion
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Estimates of some properties based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82805): PD
50 = 1.0625 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.08710 (0.04446 - 0.17062), b=2.85 (2.68 - 3.02), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref.
93245).
Trophic Level (Ref.
69278): 3.8 ±0.5 se; Based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref.
69278): .
Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): High to very high vulnerability (70 of 100) .