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…..Either way be nice to be gently bobbing about on the ocean waves in the Camel Estuary at Padstow - on a summers day too of course!! Alan:-)…..
For the interested I’m growing my Shutterstock catalogue regularly here, now sold 139 images :- www.shutterstock.com/g/Alan+Foster?rid=223484589&utm_...
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©Alan Foster. All rights reserved. Do not use without permission.……
Un peix lluna, el més gros dels peixos ossis, al aquari de Barcelona.
És curiós com en català s'anomena peix lluna (o bot), i en anglès, sunfish.
ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bot_(peix)
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An oceanic sunfish (mola mola) in the Aquarium de Barcelona. It's interesting how in English this is a sunfish, yet in Catalan it's a "peix lluna" (moon fish).
A gorgeous Lepomis miniatus from the creek near our house. Angelina County, Texas - September 2025.
This is the 5th species of Lepomis we've found in the small creek near our house. I thought this was one of the coolest fish I've caught all year. I really like this species and this was an exceptional example.
L. miniatus is one of the smaller sunfish species. Adults typically top out around 6 inches in length, and this one was approaching that size. They are also known as "stumpknockers", presumably due to their propensity to hang out around submerged woody debris.
© Brian Callahan 2009 All rights reserved.
Female Green Heron hunting in the west lagoon in the Detroit Zoo. Hard to get a good shot of them here, their coloring is designed to have them blend in to surroundings like this.
© 2013 Mohamed Tazi Photography All Rights Reserved
The ocean sunfish, Mola mola, or common mola, is the heaviest known bony fish in the world. It has an average adult weight of 1,000 kg (2,200 lb). The species is native to tropical and temperate waters around the globe. It resembles a fish head with a tail, and its main body is flattened laterally. Sunfish can be as tall as they are long when their dorsal and ventral fins are extended.
Sunfish live on a diet that consists mainly of jellyfish, but because this diet is nutritionally poor, they consume large amounts in order to develop and maintain their great bulk. Females of the species can produce more eggs than any other known vertebrate.[1] Sunfish fry resemble miniature pufferfish, with large pectoral fins, a tail fin and body spines uncharacteristic of adult sunfish.
Adult sunfish are vulnerable to few natural predators, but sea lions, orcas and sharks will consume them. Among humans, sunfish are considered a delicacy in some parts of the world, including Japan, the Korean peninsula and Taiwan. In the EU, regulations ban the sale of fish[2] and fishery products[3] derived of the Molidae family. Sunfish are frequently, though accidentally, caught in gillnets.
A member of the order Tetraodontiformes, which also includes pufferfish, porcupinefish and filefish, the sunfish shares many traits common to members of this order. It was originally classified as Tetraodon mola under the pufferfish genus, but it has since been given its own genus, Mola, with two species under it. The ocean sunfish, Mola mola, is the type species of the genus.
A dazzling day that almost hurt the eyes. I love the light that gives shape and form to the incoming breaking waves, like silver serpents writhing on the sand. Spearing the sunfish is by British Sea Power, and was part of the filmscore they did to the wonderful black and white film Man of Arran. Like everyone else I'm really missing watching this ebreaking wave dazzle diamond bright.
A wonderful bright walk this morning, with the sun beating down from an almost cloudless sky. Reflections were out, but as there was a fair bit of water flowing over the cliffs at Cwm Mawr, I tried a long exposure into the full sun. It was great fun, and I love the light rays through the water flow. Spearing the Sunfish is a great track, and a suitable title, and is by all time favourites British Sea Power.
Lepomis aquilensis from Angelina County, Texas. September 2025.
My next set will highlight some of the fish diversity of east Texas. As a kid growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, I spent many summer days fishing at our neighborhood ponds, where I would catch many a sunfish. Though it is a cherished memory, as I developed as a naturalist, fish largely fell to the wayside as I focused on terrestrial fauna and flora. Since moving to Texas, however, I frequently admired the beautifully patterned longear sunfish as the males swam guard over their nests, which had been carefully crafted and defended in order to attract a mate and raise a brood. I kicked around ideas on how to photograph them but never seriously pursued it.
Fast forward to early this summer, when I was doing some creek exploring with John and we encountered some interesting fishes. At that moment something clicked within me and a new passion was sparked. Since that day I've been working to catalog and photograph fish diversity in a variety of streams here in the Texas Pineywoods.
L. aquilensis was recently split from L. megalotis, though the taxonomy of that species complex has long been a subject of study and debate. For my money, these are some of the prettiest fish around. Breeding males sport brilliant hues of red, orange, and blue. I sometimes find it hard to believe that something so beautiful dwells in the water here. I found this male in a pool over a bottom of mudstone and cobble within a creek that passes just a block from my home.
My high school years had us living on Green Lake near Pontiac, Michigan. That lake did not allow gas powered boats, but it had lots of other boats including a racing fleet of Snipe sailboats. About 1957 I built a wooden sunfish and soon we had races for sunfish and related sailboats. My sunfish was yellow with a yellow sail and it is seen here leading the race. My brother and I both raced the boat and we usually won. We were good sailors, but I think the wooden hull performed better than the fiberglass hulls. My mother took this photo and years later I scanned her slide and made this digital image.
Lepomis aquilensis from Edwards County, Texas - October 2025.
This was by far the most common fish encountered while fishing the upper Nueces and its tributaries. All of the individuals caught here looked significantly different than the specimens of this species I have caught in East Texas. In looking into images of records, it does appear that the individuals in the Nueces and Rio Grande drainages have a slightly different fin shape and all seem to exhibit prominent banding. If you look back a few weeks in my stream you can see examples of this species from east Texas streams for comparison.
One last Lepomis aquilensis image before I move onto other sunfishes. This image highlights the diversity of colors and patterns that this species can exhibit in my area. Also note that the fish on the right has a deeper body with a bit of a bulbous "forehead". Older males grow deeper and develop that pronounced "forehead".
Like other Lepomis species, male L. aquilensis build "nests" of rocks and other debris on the channel bottom where they entice females to lay eggs. In some areas with dense populations they can form nest congregations similar to leks, where multiple males prepare and defend nests in close proximity.
The view from Nessie this morning as we paddled through the Toronto Islands.
For more about this trip, visit The Urban Voyageur blog.
Anhinga ~ (Anhinga anhinga)
I was photographing wading birds at water level when this Anhinga breached the surface with a sunfish. It almost appeared to display the catch as a trophy - allowing it glisten in the sunlight for a few seconds before gulping it down. Very easy to see why the Anhinga is colloquially called the 'snake bird'.
Thanks for visiting!
Also known as the Common Mola. These boned fish are the largest in the world, adults weighing in at 540 to 4,400 pounds. Monterey County, California.
A size comparison can be seen here .... blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/face-to-face-with...