Integrative taxonomic evidence confirms the presence of Mola alexandrini (Ranzani, 1839) in Indian waters

Roul, Subal Kumar and Jeena, N S and Nakhawa, A D and Panda, Biswajit and Sajeela, K A and Acharya, Smrutirekha and Mohapatra, Anil (2026) Integrative taxonomic evidence confirms the presence of Mola alexandrini (Ranzani, 1839) in Indian waters. Frontiers in Marine Science, 13. pp. 1-16.

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Abstract

Taxonomic study of ocean sunfishes is marked by a protracted and complex history due to their morphological similarity. Presently, the genus Mola includes three valid species: M. tecta, M. alexandrini, and M. mola, following the recent synonymization of M. ramsayi with M. alexandrini based on a comprehensive revision of the genus, which confirmed the latter’s widespread distribution across the world’s oceans. However, in Indian waters, ocean sunfishes (Mola spp.) have been reported under the names M. ramsayi, M. mola, and M. alexandrini. In the absence of a detailed taxonomic study and limited reference sequences of the Indian Mola in the public databases, current study aimed to assess the taxonomy of the genus Mola using an integrative approach, based on joint examination of morphological, anatomical, and genetic methods. Based on a thorough review of the literature, detailed morphological comparisons of fresh specimens collected from the east and west coasts of India during 2017–2023 with congeners, and molecular characterization using two mitochondrial regions (D-loop and COI), the present study confirms that specimens from the Indian EEZ belong to M. alexandrini and had previously been misidentified as M. mola or M. ramsayi. Maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis revealed well-supported clades (bootstrap values ~70% and above), with the specimens clustering consistently with M. alexandrini. This study suggests that M. mola is either absent from Indian waters or its occurrence remains doubtful. Our findings further highlight the importance of an integrative taxonomic approach for a better understanding of the zoogeographies of enigmatic genera such as Mola.

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