Giant sunfish caught off Hokkaido

An enormous sunfish caught off Hakodate, Hokkaido in Japan. Photo courtesy of Hajime Matsui. The Japan News/ANN

A giant sunfish more than three-and-a-half meters long and weighing more than one ton has been caught in waters off Hakodate, in Japan’s northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido.

Fishermen belonging to the Minami-kayabe fisheries cooperative found the sunfish as they lifted a fixed net on Thursday morning. Based on its size, it is believed to be a type of sunfish called ushi manbo.

Yasunori Sakurai, a specially appointed professor at Hokkaido University, and graduate student Hajime Matsui, 24, were on the boat when the sunfish was caught.

“I’ve conducted marine research for more than 30 years, but this was the first time for me to see a sunfish as big as three-and-a-half meters long,” said Sakurai, 63, who specializes in marine ecology.