Goblin Shark

Goblin shark images (Mitsukurina owstoni) - stock photos, illustrations & facts of a rarely seen deep sea shark with a distinctive snout

Conservation Status | Least Concern
Scientific Classification | Kingdom: Animalia > Phylum: Chordata > Class: Chondrichthyes > Order: Lamniformes > Family: Mitsukurinidae > Genus: Mitsukurina > Species: M. owstoni
Binomial Name | Mitsukurina owstoni
Synonyms | Odontaspis nasutus, Scapanorhynchus dofleini,...
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Goblin shark images (Mitsukurina owstoni) - stock photos, illustrations & facts of a rarely seen deep sea shark with a distinctive snout

Conservation Status | Least Concern
Scientific Classification | Kingdom: Animalia > Phylum: Chordata > Class: Chondrichthyes > Order: Lamniformes > Family: Mitsukurinidae > Genus: Mitsukurina > Species: M. owstoni
Binomial Name | Mitsukurina owstoni
Synonyms | Odontaspis nasutus, Scapanorhynchus dofleini, Scapanorhynchus jordani, Scapanorhynchus mitsukurii

The goblin shark, Mitsukurina owstoni, is an extremely rare, deep sea shark that can be easily identified by its elongated and flattened snout. Also known as a "living fossil", it is the only living species from the family Mitsukurinidae. The Japanese fishermen who caught the first specimen of Mitsukurina in the Black Current off Yokohama called it tenguzame, which means goblin shark. It got its name from its bizarre and scary appearance - it looks weird and different from other sharks. It has a long head, small eyes and five short gill openings. The mouth is large and parabolic in shape. Its body is soft and flabby and it has a long caudal fin without a ventral lobe. The pectoral fins are short and broad and the two dorsal fins are small, rounded and equal in size. The goblin shark has a long protrusable jaw with extremely fine, nail-like teeth, and is a pinkish white color with bluish fins. The goblin shark is a deep ocean bottom-dwelling shark that is rarely seen at the surface or in shallow coastal waters. They can be found throughout the world, from Australia to the Gulf of Mexico. They are best known from the waters around Japan, where the species was first discovered.

The goblin shark, Mitsukurina owstoni, feed on a variety of organisms that live in deep waters, including deep-sea squid, crab and fish. Goblin sharks hunt by sensing the presence of prey with electro-sensitive organs in the rostrum, or snout, due to the absence of light in the deep waters where it swims. Once a shark finds its prey, it suddenly protrudes its jaws, while using a tongue-like muscle to suck the victim into its sharp front teeth. No pregnant goblin shark has been caught but they are assumed to be ovoviviparous, where their eggs mature and hatch inside the mother's body and the shark ejects live young.
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