The ocean sunfishes (family Molidea): Recommendations from the IUCN molidae review panel

Abstract

The ocean sunfishes (family Molidae) include the largest and heaviest bony fishes in the world and species within the family are distributed from southern Chile to the Arctic Circle. The Molidae currently contains five species within three genera: Mola mola (Linnaeus, 1758), Mola alexandrini (Ranzani, 1839), Mola tecta (Nyegaard et al., 2017), Masturus lanceolatus (Liénard, 1840) and Ranzania laevis (Pennant, 1776). Recent conservation concerns led to a re-examination of the IUCN Red List classifications, where three species had previously ranged from Least Concern to Vulnerable, and two species had yet to be assessed. To better support conservation of these fishes on a global scale, the IUCN Molidae review panel was formed to update these listings. This panel, supported by experts from the IUCN Red List assessment process, included participants from the UK, Portugal, Taiwan, New Zealand, Japan and USA. The central objective was to consolidate recent research and policy expertise and assess urgent conservation issues facing the ocean sunfishes. A summary is presented here alongside key recommendations.