Goblin shark
| Goblin shark Temporal range: Holocene |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
| Superorder: | Selachimorpha |
| Order: | Lamniformes |
| Family: | Mitsukurinidae |
| Genus: | Mitsukurina |
| Species: | M. owstoni |
| Binomial name | |
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Mitsukurina owstoni D. S. Jordan, 1898 |
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| Range of the goblin shark | |
| Synonyms | |
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Odontaspis nasutus Bragança, 1904 |
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Odontaspis nasutus Bragança, 1904
Scapanorhynchus dofleini Engelhardt, 1912
Scapanorhynchus jordani Hussakof, 1909
Scapanorhynchus mitsukurii White, 1937
The goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni) is a rare species of deep-sea shark. Sometimes called a "living fossil", it is the only extant representative of the family Mitsukurinidae, a lineage some 125 million years old. This pink-skinned animal has a distinctive profile with an elongated, flattened snout, and highly protrusible jaws containing prominent nail-like teeth. It is usually between 3 and 4 m (10 and 13 ft) long when mature, though it can grow considerably larger. Goblin sharks inhabit upper continental slopes, submarine canyons, and seamounts throughout the world at depths greater than 100 m (330 ft), with adults found deeper than juveniles.
Various anatomical features of the goblin shark, such as its flabby body and small fins, suggest that it is sluggish in nature. This species hunts for teleost fishes, cephalopods, and crustaceans both near the sea floor and in the middle of the water column. Its long snout is covered with ampullae of Lorenzini that enable it to sense minute electric fields produced by nearby prey, which it can snatch up by rapidly extending its jaws. Small numbers of goblin sharks are unintentionally caught by deepwater fisheries. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed it as Least Concern, despite its rarity, citing its wide distribution and low incidence of capture.
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Wikipedia