Moon fish can weigh more than two tons

The world's largest vertebrate fish, moonfish can reach 4.3m in length and 2.3 tons in weight, making people extremely small when swimming next to them.

A video that captures the image of a giant moon fish shot by photographer Miguel Pereira near the island of Santa Maria, Azores, Portugal, attracting more than 4 million views on Facebook. The video recorded in October 2013 showed that divers swim next to the 4.3m long moon fish.

According to Inquisir, the moon fish weighs an average of 1,000kg. However, the larger ones usually have a double weight and the largest specimen is recorded at 2,313kg. In terms of size, moon fish can reach three meters long and 4.3 meters high.

The moon fish is many times bigger than the diver next to it.(Photo: Youtube).

Moon fish live popularly in tropical and temperate seas. Despite the massive body, moon fish are often endangered by many large predators such as sea lions, killer whales and sharks. In particular, sea lions cause injury to moon fish to entertain and leave after breaking fish fins. The injured fish will then slowly die in pain under the seabed.

In addition to the size, the characteristics make the moon fish stand out and recognizable as their shape. This animal's body is like grafting from fish head and tail. The moonfish body is very flat and short.

Moon fish mainly eat jellyfish, plankton, algae and some small fish. It is also the host of many different parasites. Although swimming slowly, sometimes the moon fish leaps off the water to clean the parasite. With the fin rising above the spine and hiding on the surface of the water, this fish is repeatedly mistaken for sharks.