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SpeciesLamniformesMitsukurinidae
Sharks & rays

🦈Goblin shark

Mitsukurina owstoni Jordan, 1898

The goblin shark 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 when fully grown, although it can grow significantly larger—such as one specimen captured in 2000, which was believed to measure around 6 meters. 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).

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
3
Photos
None yet
Measurements
4
Also called
Elfin Shark
Conservation status
LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2018.

Population trendUnknown
Key measurements
Body mass
not recorded
Body length
2 m
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
not recorded
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Goblin shark

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body length
2 mrecord 6.17 m · FishBasetypical adult
FishBase
Details ↓

Record: largest individual on record

Source: FishBase · v25.04 · CC BY-NC 4.0

Trophic level
4.14
FishBase
Details ↓

Source: FishBase · v25.04, estimate table · CC BY-NC 4.0

Diet
carnivoreaverage
Details ↓

From trophic level 4.14 (FishBase): <2.2 herbivore, 2.2–2.8 omnivore, >2.8 carnivore.

Danger to humans
harmless
FishBase
Details ↓

Source: FishBase · v25.04 · CC BY-NC 4.0

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Goblin shark yet: body mass, shoulder height, top speed, bite force, maximum lifespan.

More

More about the Goblin shark

In other languages
欧氏尖吻鲛 (zh), قرش عفريت (ar), Mitsukurina owstoni (es), requin lutin (fr), nesehai (nb), Mitsukurina (pl) … and 27 more languages

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