If you believe an Independent.com user or any material appearing on Independent.com is copyrighted material used without proper permission, please Nyegaard confirmed enthusiastically, typing, “HOLY MOLA!!!! The process we had to go through to confirm its new species status included consulting publications from as far back as the 1500s, some of which also included descriptions of mermen and fantastical sea monsters, researchers said.“We retraced the steps of early naturalists and taxonomists to understand how such a large fish could have evaded discovery all this time.
The Mola mola is known to inhabit the Santa Barbara Channel, and the Mola tecta lives off the coast of Chile and South Africa as well as Down Under. Nielsen told The Current, “ Mola tecta [the hoodwinker] was just recently discovered, so there is still so much to learn about this species. Copyright ©2020 Santa Barbara Independent, Inc. Reproduction of material from any Independent.com pages without written permission is strictly prohibited. A team of Japanese researchers first found genetic evidence of an unknown giant sunfish species when they were gifted a sunfish tissue sample from a stranding off New South Wales in Australia ten years ago. Iconic ocean sunfishes are the heaviest and most distinctive of all bony fishes, with some species weighing in excess of two tonnes and growing to three metres in length.The newly discovered species, named the Hoodwinker Sunfish, is thought to approach a similar size, researchers said.Marianne Nyegaard from Murdoch University in Australia uncovered the new species while researching the population genetics of ocean sunfish in the Indo-pacific region.Nyegaard, began her investigations after noticing genetic differences in sunfish samples from the Australian and New Zealand long line fishery.“A Japanese research group first found genetic evidence of an unknown sunfish species in Australian waters 10 years ago, but the fish kept eluding the scientific community because we did not know what it looked like,” Nyegaard said.Researchers collected data from 27 specimens of the new species, travelling thousands of miles or relying on strangers to take samples of sunfish found stranded on remote beaches over a period of three years.“The new species managed to evade discovery for nearly three centuries by ‘hiding’ in a messy history of sunfish taxonomy, partially because they are so difficult to preserve and study, even for natural history museums,” Nyegaard said.“That is why we named it Mola tecta – the Hoodwinker Sunfish – derived from the Latin tectus, meaning disguised or hidden,” she said.The species is the first addition to the Mola genus in 130 years. They are identified by the genus name Mola and are separated into three distinct species. Published: July 25, 2017 4:18:39 pm As they waited on Turner and Nielsen, who had to wait for the tide to go back out, the fish experts in Australia debated how wrong they could be.Once Turner and Nielsen found the fish again on February 21 — and had warned a couple of undergrads seeking a few steaks that the fish had been dead for two days — they sent photographs. Please note this login is to submit events or press releases. Fire goby (Palatogobius incendius) Jean Yamamura https://www.independent.com/2019/02/27/holy-mola-tecta/ The digestive tract contents of three specimens they sampled consisted mostly of salps, a gelatinous sea creature loosely resembling a jellyfish.Mola tecta appears to prefer cold water, and has so far been found around New Zealand, along the south-east coast of Australia, off South Africa and southern Chile, researchers said. Mr Stewart said scientists and fisheries could now discuss ways to protect the new species, known as Mola tecta - or the hoodwinker sunfish. Scientists have discovered a new species of gigantic ocean sunfish – that could weigh up to two tonnes – after it remained hidden for three centuries. 7. The study was published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.Copyright © 2020 The Indian Express [P] Ltd. All Rights Reserved New elusive sunfish species discovered by scientists It’s sleeker than its cousins, and the first addition to the genus in 125 years. The study was published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. The new species - pictured here with Ms Nyegaard - had been washing up on beaches.