What is the scientific name of the ocean sunfish?

The scientific name of the ocean sunfish is Mola mola.

Mola mola is also called the common mola and is one of the largest living bony fishes. Its genus name, Mola, comes from the Latin word for “millstone,” a reference to the fish’s broad, rounded, laterally flattened body. Carl Linnaeus described the species in 1758.

The ocean sunfish has an unmistakable truncated shape because its tail is replaced by a rudder-like structure called a clavus. Its long dorsal and anal fins provide much of its propulsion, while its small mouth has fused teeth forming a beak-like structure. Adults inhabit tropical and temperate waters worldwide and can dive far below the surface to feed.

Mola mola is sometimes incorrectly treated as the heaviest bony fish. Modern taxonomy distinguishes it from the southern sunfish, Mola alexandrini, which has produced heavier recorded specimens. The ocean sunfish is also not a freshwater sunfish such as a pumpkinseed; those belong to an entirely different fish family.