This 5,000-Pound Behemoth Is the World's Heaviest Bony Fish [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

By Stephanie Pappas, Live Science Contributor | December 7, 2017 07:37am ET

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The new "largest bony fish" (Mola alexandrine) was originally misidentified as a Mola mola sunfish, which is shown in this image with diver Daniel Botelho in San Diego, California.
Credit: Daniel Botelho/Barcroft Media via Getty Images

The heaviest bony fish ever caught weighs in at a staggering 5,070 lbs. (2,300 kilograms). Now, scientists know its name.

The fish is a Mola alexandrini ocean sunfish, researchers reported Dec. 5 in the journal Ichthyological Research. Originally, the fish, which was caught in 1996, was misidentified as a Mola mola, a better-known species of sunfish. But recent research has upended the whole Mola genus and led to the reidentification of some species. M. alexandrini is recognizable by its prominent head shape, lending it the common name the "bump-headed sunfish."

"For the same reason, we adopt the already proposed Japanese common name Ushi-manbo," said study leader Etsuro Sawai, a sunfish expert at Hiroshima University. "'Ushi' means 'cow,' and refers to the head profile of the fish." [In Photos: The World's Largest Bony Fish]

Big fish

Sunfish are the largest bony fish in the sea. Unlike sharks and rays, they have skeletons made of bone rather than cartilage. They're also very strange-looking. Their bodies are huge and round, shaped like wagon wheels or pancakes. They can grow up to about 10 feet (3 meters) long.

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