Mola Mola and a fish I can't I.D.

While on the water in Santa Cruz a couple weeks ago saw a Mola Mola and caught and released a fish I can't I.D. - anyone know what this is??



Video of the Mola Mola below.

Kim

Tis in fact a midshipman. [ poricthys sp.]
It makes a humming sound when handling and has hence been media hyped as a "talking fish".
Steve

WHOLY MOLA!  Wow thats quite a treat!  I didn't think they were around our area!  

And that other thing, I caught one in Capitola a couple months ago:  

Thanks Steve! A karaoking fish!!  That's so cool.

The ocean is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get!!

Al,

It was SO COOL to see the Mola Mola. I found out later what it was. It was just floating there so I snapped a video. This site tracks sightings (I told them about mine):

http://www.oceansunfish.org/distribution.php

Kim

Kim - your fish looks like a sarcastic fringehead. It is not a midshipman.

Al - I believe your fish is a one-spot fringehead.

The 2nd fish is for sure a sarcastic fringehead....
 The first one we cannot see the tell tale maxillary very well.
Both are way cool fish!
 Steve
 

I caught a lot of those in the kelp by greyhound rock about 10 years ago. I had no idea what they were so I chucked them back.

Kim - your fish looks like a sarcastic fringehead. It is not a midshipman.

I guess that explains why mine wasn't "singing". This is what it says about them when I googled:

No kidding, sarcastic fringehead is the name of a real fish, a skinny little tiger no more than nine inches long that likes to live in cracks in the rocks, holes in the hard bottom, empty shells, and even beer bottles. They are aggressive and fearless, and will charge anything, including scuba divers that approach their lairs. Sarcastic fringehead are distinctive fish, with huge jaws, tufts of tissue on their heads (hence their name), and metallic blue, yellow-fringed spots on their dorsal fins. They are found from San Francisco Bay south to Baja, Mexico, and eat fish and other small denizens of the sea floor.


Kim

How did I miss this post?

I'm also going with fringeheads over midshipmen.  Midshipmen have several lines of little photophores along their sides.  These glowing "buttons" make the fish look as if they are wearing old Navy midshipmen uniforms with their rows of brass buttons.

 

WHOLY MOLA!  Wow thats quite a treat!  I didn't think they were around our area!  

Mola Mola are fairly common in our area and even more so offshore in the tuna grounds.

-Allen

Right you are Rockhopper and Bsteves...,
 I just got the 1st pic blown up and the big , huge moshtache is there and the lack of the line of lights.
 Sarcastic fringehead for sure...
Steve