Ocean sunfish, genus Mola Kölreuter, 1766 (Pisces Molidae), exhibit surprising levels of agility during interactions with orca, Orcinus orca (Linnaeus, 1758) (Mammalia Delphinidae)
2023; Edizioni Danaus, Palermo; Volume: 14; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.31396/biodiv.jour.2023.14.1.3.17
ISSN2039-0408
AutoresMarianne Nyegaard, Ingrid N. Visser, London A. Fletcher,
Tópico(s)Identification and Quantification in Food
ResumoOcean sunfish (Mola spp.) are well known for their large adult size and peculiar morphology, which in combination give them the resemblance of a giant, swimming fish head.At first glance, this unusual body form hints at locomotive ineptitude, and traditionally molids have indeed been considered poor swimmers.Although this archaic view has been thoroughly rebutted in recent years, with studies revealing molids are strong swimmers (for example their ability to rapidly accelerate, with recorded burst speeds for Mola mola of 6.6 m/s), their finescale maneuverability is unclear.Furthermore, many natural molid behaviours are not well understood, including antipredator behaviours, as opportunities to observe this taxa in the wild are limited.Unexpectedly, during a recent global review of molid interactions with orca (a molid predator), a number of video recordings revealed surprisingly rapid and agile molid movements.These included the molids turning up-side down, rolling backwards, pivoting and spinning.These behaviours appeared to be deliberate attempts on behalf of the molids to keep the clavus ('tail') towards the orca, keep the ventral area away, evade the orca, and/or discourage the orca from making physical contact.Here, we describe eight 'Evade' behaviours based on video analysis, present detailed descriptions and provide examples.
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