An ocean sunfish of cold upwelled water off the western Galapagos, of unsettled species identity.
Recorded in the cold upwelled water off the western islands, particularly around Isabela and Fernandina, and one of the few reasons to dive the cold sites deliberately.
Which species is present is not settled. Eastern Pacific records have been assigned variously to Mola mola, M. ramsayi and M. alexandrini, and the genus has been revised recently enough that older sources should not be relied on. Entries elsewhere on this site that name a mola should be checked against whichever name is used here.
Encounters are usually at a cleaning station or in midwater during ascent, and are brief. The water is cold — a thermocline into the mid-teens Celsius is normal on these sites — and exposure protection appropriate to that is the practical constraint on the diving rather than anything about the animal.
Ratings are per location: 1 means found on most dives that look for it, 5 means a handful of records. Where enough dives have been logged the figure is calculated from them; otherwise it is an editorial estimate, and says so. We publish habitat and destination, not the dive site.