ocean sunfish

noun

|Updated on: 12 Jun 2018

Definition of ocean sunfish

: a large bony fish (Mola mola of the family Molidae, order Tetraodontiformes) having high dorsal and anal fins and a body nearly oval in outline and attaining a length of 10 feet (3 meters) and a weight in excess of 2 tons (1.8 metric tons)

Recent Examples of ocean sunfish from the Web

Its heaviest modern counterpart is the ocean sunfish, which at its largest weighs in at a modest 5,000 pounds.

— julissa treviño, Smithsonian, "Why Did Most Massive Bony Fish Behemoths Die Out?," 4 June 2018
Among those spotted were a live ocean sunfish and warm-water blue shark in the Gulf of Alaska, mahi mahi off the coast of Oregon, a Pacific sea turtle common in the Galapagos near San Francisco, and marlin in the waters off Southern California.

— jason samenow, Washington Post, "Heat waves over the ocean have ballooned and are wreaking havoc on marine life," 11 Apr. 2018
An actual ocean sunfish is the world’s largest bony fish and can weigh from 500 to more than 2,000 pounds, according to experts.

— brian ballou, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Consensus: Creature that drew a crowd at the beach was a sunfish," 18 Dec. 2017
Besides sea turtles and ocean sunfish, there are few animals that bother hunting jellies at all.

— steph yin, New York Times, "Who’s Eating Jellyfish? Penguins, That’s Who," 29 Sep. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ocean sunfish.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.