A video captured by the scientists aboard a research vessel, the E/V Nautilus, features an exciting encounter with he world's largest bony fish - the Mola mola.
The video shows the Mola mola (bony fish) with a slightly open, rounded mouth and fins at the top and bottom of its body.
Mola mola, also called the ocean sunfish, is the heaviest known bony fish in the world and was sighted on July 28 off the shores of Southern California.
“This slow-swimming saucer starts as a microscopic larva and grows big: up to 10 feet long and 3,000 pounds,” the research team said in a Facebook post on the sighting of the creature.
Exploration Vessel (E/V) Nautilus is a 64-meter research vessel currently based in Victoria, British Columbia.
The Mola mola is considered evolutionarily advanced as they are thought to be one of the most recent fish families. Still, scientists know very little about the bony fish and are studying to find out more about them.
