Abstract
The world’s heaviest bony fish, Mola alexandrini (Tetraodontiformes: Molidae) has a long history of being confused with Mola mola. It was recently discovered that a specimen of Mola alexandrini was mixed in with specimens of the genus Mola stored in the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Natural History. This specimen was caught by set net off Manazuru, Kanagawa Prefecture (35˚10’N, 139˚08’E), Japan, on 28 October 1977. Via the Enoshima Aquarium (before refurbishment), it is now exhibited as a mounted specimen in the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Natural History. This specimen represents the fifth whole body specimen of this species from Japan and an additional record from Kanagawa Prefecture. Factors that made it difficult to identify this specimen were suggested as “deformation of the mounting process” and “morphological abnormality of clavus”.
