Ecology of the ocean sunfish, Mola mola, in the southern California Current system
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The common ocean sunfish, Mola mola, occupies a unique position in the eastern Pacific Ocean and the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem (CCLME) as the world's heaviest, most fecund bony fish, and one of the most abundant gelativores. M. mola frequently occur as bycatch in fisheries worldwide and comprise the greatest portion of the bycatch in California's large-mesh drift gillnet fishery. In this first long-term tagging study of any ocean sunfish species in the eastern Pacific, 15 M. mola (99 cm to 200 cm total length) were tagged in the southern California Bight (SCB) between 2003 and 2010 using 14 satellite pop-off archival tags (PATs) and one Fastloc Mk10 GPS tag. Ten tags provided positional data for a cumulative dataset of 349 tracking days during the months of July through March. Thirteen tags provided temperature and depth data. All M. mola remained within ~ 300 km of the coast, and nearly all exhibited seasonal movement between the SCB and adjacent waters off northern and central Baja California, Mexico. No tagged individuals were tracked north of the SCB. Tag depth data showed diel vertical migration and occasional deep (> 500 m) dives. Data from the Fastloc GPS tag allowed close examination of the relationship between the movements of the largest tagged ocean sunfish (2 m TL) and fine-scale oceanographic features. Near-instantaneous satellite sea surface temperature images showed this individual associated with upwelling fronts along its migration path, which exceeded 800 km and ranged from 6 to 128 km from the coast. Tag depth data showed active use of the water column within the frontal zones. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images demonstrated that surface slicks, which often indicate convergent circulation, coincided with this type of front. Zooplankton tows in the southern region of tracking off central Baja California, Mexico revealed dense populations of salps toward the warm side of these fronts. Satellite tag and ecosystem data suggest that bio-physical interactions in coastal upwelling fronts create favorable foraging habitat.
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Both Mola mola and Thunnus orientalis use the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem as a foraging ground.
“Both Mola and bluefin tuna use the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem (CCLME) as a foraging ground.”
From Oceanographic determinants of ocean sunfish (Mola mola) and bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) bycatch patterns in the California large mesh drift gillnet fishery (2017) · cites this paper as Thys et al., 2015
The Conclusions (p. unavailable) place M. mola in the southern CCLME near fronts where potential prey may concentrate. Section 3.4.1 (p. unavailable) reports foraging around CCLME fronts by tuna generally, but the paper does not identify bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) as one of those species. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredPost-release survival of Mola mola is unknown.
“although post-release survival is unknown (Thys et al., 2015).”
From Oceanographic determinants of ocean sunfish (Mola mola) and bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) bycatch patterns in the California large mesh drift gillnet fishery (2017) · cites this paper as Thys et al., 2015
Section 3.1 (page unavailable) says a larger tagging sample would be needed to estimate mortality in the population, supporting uncertainty about the overall post-release survival rate. But it also reports that 13 tagged fish remained tracked for 90–241 days and two died after release, so survival was not wholly unknown for the fish studied. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThys et al. (2015) found that tag locations of an individual Mola with a Fastloc GPS tag matched the cold side of a front peripheral to an upwelling zone.
“Thys et al. (2015) used an individual with a Fastloc GPS tag to analyze association with finescale ocean features and found that tag locations matched the cold side of a front peripheral to an upwelling zone.”
From Oceanographic determinants of ocean sunfish (Mola mola) and bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) bycatch patterns in the California large mesh drift gillnet fishery (2017) · cites this paper as Thys et al., 2015
Section 2.4 says the authors used Fastloc GPS positions from one fish to examine fine-scale ocean features. Section 3.4.1 reports that eight position–SST matchups placed the fish at fronts along the periphery of cold water generated by coastal upwelling, but it does not say the positions were specifically on the cold side of those fronts. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredTracking studies suggest that both Mola mola and Thunnus orientalis associate with productive upwelling zones in the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem.
“Tracking studies suggest that both Mola (Thys et al., 2015) and bluefin tuna (Boustany et al., 2010) associate with these productive upwelling zones in the CCLME.”
From Oceanographic determinants of ocean sunfish (Mola mola) and bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) bycatch patterns in the California large mesh drift gillnet fishery (2017) · cites this paper as Thys et al., 2015
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Spatiotemporal segregation of ocean sunfish species (Molidae) in the eastern North Pacific
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The ocean sunfishes (family Molidea): Recommendations from the IUCN molidae review panel
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Self-citationEnergyscapes pinpoint marine megafauna feeding hotspots in the Mediterranean
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Sexual Maturity and Spawning of Ocean Sunfish Mola mola in Korean Waters
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Argos satellite transmitters enable billfish research at finer scales
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- Authors
- Thys, T. M., Ryan, J. P., Dewar, H., Perle, C. R., Lyons, K., O'Sullivan, J., Farwell, C., Howard, M. J., Weng, K. C., Lavaniegos, B. E., Gaxiola-Castro, G., Miranda Bojorquez, L. E., Hazen, E. L., & Bograd, S. J.
- Affiliations
- California Academy of Sciences (US)
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (US)
- NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (US)
- Florida State College at Jacksonville (US)
- University of Calgary (CA)
- Virginia Institute of Marine Science (US)
- Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada (MX)
- Corresponding author
- Thys, Tierney M.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2015-10
- Volume
- 471
- Pages
- 64-76
- ISSN
- 0022-0981 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W394341405
- Cited by
- 58
- References
- 60
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 4.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- W&M Publish (College of William & Mary) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- NOAA Institutional Repository (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- National Geographic Committee for Research and Exploration (7369-02)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Marine and fisheries research
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Ichthyology and Marine Biology
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Marine animal studies overview
- Keywords
- ocean sunfish, Mola mola, Southern California Bight, ocean fronts, coastal upwelling, diel vertical migration, deep dives, foraging habitat, bycatch, satellite tracking, GPS tracking, sea surface temperature, salps, zooplankton, seasonal migration
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