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Fishermen caught a huge moonfish in North Africa. The workers had no idea how big it really was, and after researchers arrived, measurements showed that the animal was more than 3 meters long and 2 meters wide. As for its weight, moreover, the fish nearly broke a 1-ton scale.
The big fish, despite being a commonly giant species, caught the attention of fishermen and even biologists who went to the region to study it. The problem is that when it was time to weigh the moonfish, the scales could barely stand the first moments with the weight of the animal.
It turned out that the fish was much more massive than the one-ton scale used by the experts, so the best thing to do was to calculate. According to the team in charge of the animal, it easily reached two tons.
As shown in the video below, fishermen and experts had to hoist the animal to weigh it. However, the giant moonfish was secured in an underwater cabin attached to the boat, to avoid stress and risk to the fish.
Moonfish even bigger
Despite the incredible dimensions of this specimen, moonfish can often reach impressive sizes. The fish in question in this article is not even the largest known, though it is the largest caught in the region. The largest moonfish to end up on record was an incredible 2.3 tons.
The species, moreover, belongs to a genus of fishes rather unusual in appearance. These animals have, in general, a stubby face and a rather short and thick tail. Their lateral fins, however, are large and strong to maintain stability in the water.
To top it off, the moonfish has a puffy-looking face and generally feeds on jellyfish and large amounts of zooplankton. The species in this case is the Mola alexandrini also called southern moonfish.
