Mola ramsayi, known commonly as the southern ocean sunfish or southern sunfish, is a fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

 belonging to the family Molidae

Molidae

Molidae is the family of the molas or ocean sunfishes, unique fish whose bodies come to an end just behind the dorsal and anal fins, giving them a "half-a-fish" appearance...

. It is closely related to its cogener, the large Mola mola, and is found in the Southern Hemisphere

Southern Hemisphere

The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...

.

Description

Mola ramsayi has a relatively small mouth and its teeth fused into a parrot

Parrot

Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...

-like beak. It can reach up to 3.3 metres (10.8 ft) in length.

Distribution

Mola ramsayi is found in the Southwest Pacific, especially around Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 and the Southeast Pacific around Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

. Its range

Range (biology)

In biology, the range or distribution of a species is the geographical area within which that species can be found. Within that range, dispersion is variation in local density.The term is often qualified:...

 also extends to the Southeast Atlantic near South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

.

Further reading

• Glover, C.J.M. in Gomon, M.F., Glover, C.J.M. & R.H. Kuiter (Eds). (1994). The Fishes of Australia's South Coast. State Print, Adelaide. Pp. 992.
• Hutchins, B. & R. Swainston. (1986). Sea Fishes of Southern Australia. Complete Field Guide for Anglers and Divers. Swainston Publishing. Pp. 180.
• Last, P.R., E.O.G. Scott & F.H. Talbot. (1983). Fishes of Tasmania. Tasmanian Fisheries Development Authority. Pp. 563.