The first record of Southern Ocean sunfish, Mola ramsayi from Northern Oman Sea, Iran

Abstract

This report provides the first record of the Mola ramsayi from the northern Oman Sea, Iranian waters. The order Tetradontiformes contain the Molidae family that is a diverse marine fish group and contains eight families, 64 genera, and 320 species (Nelson, 2010). Ocean sunfish or molas belong to the family Molidae. These species are epipelagic in nature (Matsuura, 2002). The molid species are characterized in having a distinctive laterally compressed shape, two fused teeth in jaws, no spines in dorsal and anal fins, no caudal peduncle; caudal fin lost; posterior and end of body reduced to a leathery flap or pseudocaudal (clavus). Johns and Britz (2005) tested the hypothesis that the clavus is 1) a highly modified caudal fin, or 2) formed by highly modified elements of the dorsal and anal fins. Based on ontogenetic elements, they concluded that the later is correct, that is formed by modified elements of the dorsal and anal fin, and that the caudal fin is lost in molids. Jawad et al. (2010) provide a literature review on Molidae family in which goes back to the earliest descriptions by Linnaeus (1758) and by Koelreuter (1766).