A rare Hoodwinker sunfish measuring 2.2 meters long washed up on the coast of Oregon (USA) last week, according to the Seaside Aquarium.
This giant marine creature was found north of Seaside, in northwest Oregon, along Gearhart Beach on June 3, CNN reported.
A Hoodwinker sunfish was found on the Oregon coast earlier this week. (Photo: Tiffany Boothe/Seaside Aquarium).
According to the Seaside Aquarium, social media buzz has drawn many curious onlookers who “flocked to the beach to see this unusual fish.”
In photos shared by the Seaside Aquarium, the giant fish, with its peculiar shape resembling a bulky silver coin, appears to be lying sideways on the sand with its mouth agape.
The Seaside Aquarium noted that this species was initially believed to inhabit only temperate waters in the Southern Hemisphere, but “that theory is being challenged as a few individuals have recently washed up on the California coast and some have been found as far north as Alaska.”
Furthermore, the Seaside Aquarium reported that news of this fish reached researcher Mariann Nyegaard in New Zealand, and the esteemed expert remarked that the images indicate this is not a typical sunfish previously recorded, also known as Mola mola.
The giant fish resembles a bulky silver coin, appearing to lie sideways on the sand with its mouth agape. (Photo: Seaside Aquarium).
Ms. Nyegaard identified the fish that washed up on the Oregon coast as a Hoodwinker sunfish, or Mola tecta. This researcher previously discovered a new sunfish species and described this unique find in a paper published in 2017.
According to the Seaside Aquarium, this species may have been spotted along the Pacific Northwest coast before but was mistaken for the more common Mola mola.
Ms. Nyegaard contacted the aquarium to request genetic samples from the fish, and the Seaside Aquarium took additional images and measurements, leading to the conclusion that “this could be the largest specimen ever collected.”
