The Sunfish: The “Ugly” Fish That Has Survived for 40 Million Years
Sunday, 4 October 2026
The sunfish (aka the mola mola) gets quite a lot of bad press online. Every now and again, someone discovers it for the first time and – usually – ridicule follows. It looks weird, llike a shark has already taken a big chunk out of its behind, it's a bit stupid, it's find are in the wrong place - the list goes on. Well, we may have made a lot of progress (for want of a better year) in the 100,000 years or so that our species has been around, but I don’t think we’re really in a position to start pointing and laughing at the sunfish, which has inelegantly navigated the world’s waterways for 40 million years – since the Eocene. When we’ve been around that long, perhaps there will be a little wriggle room for a giggle bloom. Image
True, the brain of the sunfish is tiny – and it has received
a lot of stick for this online too, but it has a lot of adaptations that means
while it may not be able to do calculus, it has been able to navigate a lot of
evolutionary stormy weather and come out the other side intact. There are even six species of sunfish, which is
more than we can say, having somehow managed to wipe out all the other human
species that have walked the earth!
Why doesn’t the sunfish have a tail? Again, lots of pointing online. Well, they
have huge fins instead – it is a clavis and it is the rudder of the fish. However, anything that can successfully propel
you through the sea is fine by me – and the clavis has worked for tens of
millions of years. It is also the only
animal that has vertical fins, but that doesn’t stop it from going on huge migrations. This cumbersome body also allows it to dive
up to a kilometre deep. So, perhaps, we
shouldn’t allow the sunfish to be bullied online! After all, it’s cumbersome design (at least
to our eyes) has given its species a longevity to which we can only aspire!
If you would like to learn more about the sunfish – watch the
video below. It is part of the The
Nature of Things series hosted by Anthony Morgan and Sarika Cullis-Suzuki. It’s a great in for anyone wanting to
learn more about this amazing species of fish.