INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightJACOB JONESImage caption
A group of fishermen found the odd creature washed up on the beach
Pictures of a giant, odd-looking fish have gone viral after it washed up on a beach in South Australia.Identified as an ocean sunfish by
experts, the 1.8m (6ft)-long specimen was first spotted by a group of fishermen driving along the sand.At first, they mistook it for a large
piece of driftwood, said Linette Grzelak who posted pictures of her partner's find on Facebook."I didn't think it was real until I Googled
sunfish," she told the TheIndianSubcontinent.Her partner, Steven Jones has worked as a fisherman for years so "he knew what it was but had
never seen one in real life", she said."Hence why they took the photos
He said it was extremely heavy and the skin was rough and leathery like a rhinoceros."The fish was found at Coorong National Park, 80km (50
miles) south of the city of Adelaide
It's believed to have later washed back into the ocean, Ms Grzelak said.'Just average-sized'Ocean sunfish, or Mola mola, are the world's
heaviest bony fish species and can be found in temperate marine waters globally, according to the Fishes of Australia database.Their
features include a large, blunt head, a disproportionately small mouth, and long dorsal and anal fins.One expert said the found fish
appeared to be a smaller example of its species, which can grow over 4m (13ft) tall and weigh more than 2.5 tonnes (2,500kg)
"It's probably an average-sized one, they can get nearly twice as big as that," Ralph Foster from the South Australian Museum told the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation.You may also be interested in:The species are harmless to people, but are sometimes mistaken for sharks
when they swim inshore, says the Australian Museum
In Australia, they have been known to cause damage to boats due to their size.Last year, a vessel in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht race had to
retire from the race after hitting a sunfish and breaking its rudder.Earlier this month, a rare hoodwinker sunfish washed up on a beach in
It baffled scientists who questioned how the southern hemisphere species had travelled so far from its home waters.
