Sun Fish
Rural Mail Contractor Gordon Wyeth inspects a sunfish washed ashore at Wangaimoana.
The ocean sunfish is the heaviest known bony fish in the world. Adult fish in the tropics have been known to weight up to 1,000 kg. They can be found in tropical and temperate waters around the globe. While it has fish head with a tail its main body is flattened laterally. Sunfish can be as tall as they are long when their dorsal and ventral fins are extended.
Sunfish live on a diet that consists mainly of jellyfish, but because this diet is nutritionally poor, they consume large amounts in order to develop and maintain their great bulk. Females of the species can produce more eggs than any other known vertebrate.
Adult sunfish are vulnerable to sea lions, orcas and sharks who will consume them. Among humans, sunfish are considered a delicacy in some parts of the world, including Japan, the Korean peninsula and Taiwan.
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