Search results for "Ocean sunfish"
showing 4 items of 4 documents
First confirmed record ofMolasp. A in the western Mediterranean Sea: morphological, molecular and parasitological findings
2017
Recent molecular and morphological studies suggest the existence of at least three species of Mola (Mola spp. A, B and C). Currently, only Mola mola and Mola ramsayi are formally accepted and species A, B or C have not been assigned to these thus far. In this study, a large ocean sunfish in the western Mediterranean Sea was analysed molecularly and morphologically, identified as Mola sp. A and a detailed account of the specimen's parasite load is reported.
Reply to LoganDodge: 'stable isotopes challenge the perception of ocean sunfish Mola mola as obligate jellyfish predators'.
2013
Syvaranta et al. (2012) recently provided stable-isotope data from eight small-bodied ocean sunfish Mola mola (L. 1758) captured from the Italian fishing port of Camogli on the Ligurian coast. Representative data were also given for members of pelagic and neritic–coastal food webs. The level of 13C and 15N enrichment shown by M. mola relative to their putative obligate diet of gelatinous zooplankton (gelata) (based on the locally dominant Pelagia noctiluca and literature data) was used to question their obligate consumption of such prey. Furthermore, the M. mola were isotopically more similar to neritic rather than pelagic fishes captured locally, prompting the suggestion that juvenile M. m…
Stable isotopes challenge the perception of ocean sunfish Mola mola as obligate jellyfish predators
2011
Evidence is provided from stable isotope analysis that aggregations of small ocean sunfish Mola mola (total length <1 m) feed broadly within coastal food webs and their classification as obligate predators of gelatinous zooplankton requires revision.
Accacoelium contortum (Trematoda: Accacoeliidae) a trematode living as a monogenean: morphological and pathological implications
2015
Background Accacoelium contortum (Rudolphi, 1819) Monticelli, 1893 is a frequent but poorly known trematode found on gills, pharynx and digestive tract of the ocean sunfish Mola mola (L.). Although the morphology of A. contortum agrees with that of a typical endoparasitic trematode, with two relatively small suckers and no large holdfasts, this parasite is normally ectoparasitic. The main objective of this paper is to explore this peculiar host-parasite relationship. Methods A total of 106 ocean sunfish were examined for the presence of A. contortum. The oropharyngeal chamber (gills and pharynx) and the digestive tract were analysed. As the previous descriptions of this species seem to be b…