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Goblin Shark
anonymous, CC BY-SA 4.0, via iNaturalist

Sharks & rays

Goblin Shark

Mitsukurina owstoni Jordan, 1898

LC Least Concern

Names

EnglishGoblin Shark
DutchKoboldhaai
SpanishTiburón duende
Chinese剑吻鲨
Scientific nameMitsukurina owstoni Jordan, 1898

About this species

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, flat snout, and highly protrusible jaws containing prominent nail-like teeth. It typically reaches a length of 3 to 4 meters (10 to 13 feet) when fully grown, although it can grow significantly larger—such as one specimen captured in 2000, which was believed to measure around 6 meters (20 feet). Goblin sharks are benthopelagic creatures that 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. Some researchers believed that these sharks could also dive to depths of up to 1,300 m (4,270 ft), for short periods; footage captured in 2024 suggests that their range could be deeper than previously thought, with a confirmed sighting of an adult swimming at 2,000 m (6,560 ft).

Read more on Wikipedia · Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Classification

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassElasmobranchii
OrderLamniformes
FamilyMitsukurinidae
GenusMitsukurina