A large sunfish, Mola mola, was caught off Tristan on 2nd June 2016

Giant Sunfish caught off Tristan on 2nd June 2016

Report and photos from Carlene Glass-Green

Joe, Keith, Grant and Jason Green caught this large sunfish when out fishing on 2nd June. The photos show Jason (left) and Justin (right) with the fish. Justin is over 6ft tall so the fish must be approx. 1 metre long.

The sunfish is likely to be an ocean sunfish or common mola Mola mola, which is the largest known bony fish in the world and lives on a diet mainly of jelly fish. This may be the first recorded finding of an ocean sunfish in Tristan waters.

A much smaller Slender Sunfish ,  Ranzania laevis also rare fish in Tristan waters, was discovered on a Tristan beach by Mark Swain in March 2015 - see Wild News 2015 for details.