A giant sunfish weighing a ton was caught and released by scientists off the coast of Spain

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A large sunfish that needs two cranes to lift on board a ship has been caught in Spain.

Scientists in Spain captured and released the 3.2-meter-high monster from fin to fin.

The exotic species has a distinctive disc-like body which gives it the appearance of an all-head and very small tail.

The specimen caught by researchers off the coast of Ceute on October 4 weighed a ton, measured 2.9 meters in length and 3.2 meters in length from fin to fin.

Marine biologists trapped the fish in an underwater chamber and moved them aboard their ship using cranes.

The diver helps the sunfish as it releases and swims to the depths. Credit: Estrecho Marine Biology Station (Ceuta) – University of Seville

The marine biology station team of the University of Seville took the measurements before returning the fish to the waters off the coast of Ceuta on October 4.

The University of Seville said that researchers from the US Marine Biology Laboratory, led by Professor Jose Carlos García Gómez, with colleagues from Switzerland, are working to monitor populations of sunfish passing through Ceuta.

They are working to identify the morphological and genetic differences between the two species “Mola mola” and “Mola Alexandrini”.

Researchers said that the specimen caught off the coast of Ceuta belongs to the “Mola Alexandrini” species.

The sunfish is one of the heaviest bony fish known in the world.

They are known to bask on their sides at the sea’s surface, in behavior that scientists believe may be a “thermal recharge” strategy after feeding plunges into deeper, colder waters.

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