Fishtailing between the sublime and the ridiculous
Mola mola photo © OpenCage
The ocean sunfish and the oarfish – which coexist and share the same types of food – have extremely different shapes. Of all bony fishes, the former is the most massive and the latter is the longest, with the caudal vertebral column being absent in the ocean sunfish and exceeding 11 metres in the oarfish. But the dimensionality of these fishes is even more aberrant: the ocean sunfish can swim on its side (resembling marine turtles in beating flipper-like versions of the dorsal and anal fins), whereas the oarfish can swim horizontally in a vertical position.
Robin and the Honey Badger, 22 March 2016
Photographs:
Mola mola swimming on its side
Mola mola massive size with human for scale
Artists impression of Regalecus glesne
Length of Regalecus glesne with humans for scale
