See it: Mysterious fish mistaken for shark washes up on California beach

The newly discovered bumpy snailfish

FILE - This new species of snailfish, known as the bumpy snailfish, was first seen in 2019 off the coast of California by a Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute team.

BODEGA BAY, Calif.– Reports of sharks swimming near a jetty over the weekend at a California beach ended up with the discovery of an unusual type of fish. 

Instead of sharks, the creatures were sunfish, a type of large open-water fish, according to Sonoma County Regional Parks.

The specific sunfish spotted was a rare one, known as a mola tecta, a sunfish only formally identified in 2017. 

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Mola tecta sunfish have flat, disc-like bodies.

(Sonoma County Regional Parks / Facebook / FOX Weather)

Commonly known as a hoodwinker sunfish, they're often mistaken for mola mols, a more common type of sunfish. 

Both species are found in the Pacific Ocean, according to the Marine Education & Research Society. 

Sonoma County Regional Parks said one of the sunfish didn't survive and washed up on the beach in Doran Regional Park over the weekend. 

Photos showed the large fish, with its flat, disc-like body and large fins, sort of resembling a shark, washed onto the beach. 

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Park rangers notified local wildlife agencies about the beached fish, but it will not be removed. 

"Nature will now take over, returning nutrients back into the ecosystem," Sonoma County Regional Parks said. 

The agency reminded visitors to leave the sunfish alone if they see it, just like they should with any animal that washes ashore.