Sharks Codexery

Goblin shark

A rare deep-sea shark with a distinctive long snout and protrusible jaws.

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Goblin shark

Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

Goblin sharks are rare deep-sea sharks with a pinkish body and a famously long, flat snout.[1] You can find this shark in deep waters all over the world, and its most famous trick is that its jaws can shoot forward to snatch prey.[1][2]

Goblin Shark
Goblin Shark. Image: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassChondrichthyes
  4. SubclassElasmobranchii
  5. DivisionSelachii
  6. OrderLamniformes
  7. FamilyMitsukurinidae
  8. GenusMitsukurina
  9. SpeciesMitsukurina owstoni

Named by D. S. Jordan, 1898

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Goblin shark (CC BY-SA 4.0) · order, family and genus agree with WoRMS AphiaID 105842 (CC BY 4.0)

Conservation status

Least Concern (LC)

  1. LC▲ this species
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX
Population trend
Not held in our sources — see the assessment
Assessment published
2018

Source: IUCN Red List assessment · GBIF copy of the Red List category

Where the goblin shark has been recorded

Where the goblin shark has been recorded29 mapped locations from 104 GBIF occurrence records

Each dot is a place where the species has been observed and reported (104 records, half-degree grid) — not a modelled range. 11 inland records left out (institution coordinates).

Map: drawn by Codexery. Data: GBIF occurrence search (records CC0 / CC BY) · Natural Earth basemap (public domain)

Description

Adult goblin sharks typically reach 3 to 4 meters in length, though one specimen from 2000 was estimated at 5.4 to 6.2 meters.[3] The heaviest recorded individual weighed 800 kilograms and was 4.7 meters long, caught in Taiwan in 2023.[3] The snout is long and flat, shaped like a blade, and its proportional length decreases as the shark gets older.[4] The large mouth is shaped like a parabola, and the jaws can shoot forward a long way, normally held flush under the head.[2]

Goblin shark, Pengo
Goblin shark, Pengo. Image: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The goblin shark has a pretty slender, flabby body, and its skin is soft and kind of see-through.[5] When they're alive, these sharks look pink or tan because you can see their blood vessels through the skin, and that color gets darker as they get older.[3] In the upper jaw, you'll find 35 to 53 rows of teeth, and in the lower jaw, there are 31 to 62 rows.[2]

Goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni)
Goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni). Image: Michigan State University/USFWS · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Biology and ecology

Goblin sharks likely have a sluggish lifestyle, with a poorly calcified skeleton and weak muscles.[6] Vision seems less important than other senses, but unlike most deep-sea sharks, it can change the size of its pupils.[7] When prey is close, the jaws snap forward using elastic ligaments that release like a catapult.[8] The lower jaw moves faster than the upper jaw, swinging upward to capture prey at a maximum speed of 3.14 meters per second.[9]

Goblin shark NHMW
Goblin shark NHMW. Image: Armin Reindl · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The goblin shark has a unique re-opening and re-closing pattern during a strike, not seen in other sharks.[9] Its main meals are deep-sea fish like rattails and dragonfishes, plus cephalopods and crustaceans.[10] People have even found garbage in the stomachs of some goblin sharks.[10] Because its flesh is low-density and its liver is big and oily, the goblin shark is neutrally buoyant, which lets it drift silently toward its prey.[11]

Goblin shark size-ar
Goblin shark size-ar. Image: Original: Kurzon Derivative: علاء · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Blue sharks might sometimes prey on goblin sharks.[7] We don't know much about how they reproduce, and no one has ever seen them mate.[12] It probably shares the same reproductive style as other mackerel sharks, meaning the young develop inside the mother and are born live, with small litters.[12] The smallest goblin shark ever found was about 82 centimeters long, so that's likely the size at birth.[12]

Male goblin sharks reach sexual maturity at around 2.6 meters long, but we don't know at what size females mature.[12]

Distribution and habitat

A confirmed sighting in 2024 showed an adult swimming at 2,000 meters.[13]

Human interactions

A few specimens have been kept alive in public aquariums, but they survived only briefly.[14] There's no evidence that the goblin shark is dangerous to humans.[14] They don't have much economic importance; people might dry and salt the meat, and the jaws can sell for high prices to collectors.[15] Fisheries don't target this shark, but it does get caught as bycatch in bottom gillnets, trawls, and on longlines.[15]

The IUCN lists the goblin shark as Least Concern, since most of its population lives in areas that aren't fished.[16] People don't think human activity threatens it.[17]

Taxonomy and phylogeny

American ichthyologist David Starr Jordan first described the goblin shark in 1898.[18] Shipmaster Alan Owston got that specimen and gave it to Professor Kakichi Mitsukuri, who then passed it along to Jordan.[18] Right after Jordan's description, scientists noticed it looked a lot like the extinct shark Scapanorhynchus, and for a while they thought they were the same genus.[19] Genetic studies also back up that basal classification.[20]

FMIB 51670 Goblin- hark (Tenguzame), Mitsukurina owstoni Jordan From a young specimen in the Imperial University of Tokyo
FMIB 51670 Goblin- hark (Tenguzame), Mitsukurina owstoni Jordan From a young specimen in the Imperial University of Tokyo. Image: David Starr Jordan · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Goblin shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Parsons, "First Record of the Goblin Shark Mitsukurina owstoni, Jordan (Family Mitsukurinidae) in the Gulf of Mexico", Southeastern Naturalist, 2002, p. 189–192 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Goblin shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Castro, J.H., "The Sharks of North America", Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 202–205; Compagno, L.J.V., "Sharks of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date (Volume 2)", Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2002, p. 68–71; "Sharks and Rays of Australia", Harvard University Press, 2009, p. 156–157 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Goblin shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Castro, J.H., "The Sharks of North America", Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 202–205; Martin, R.A., "Biology of the Goblin Shark", ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research; Castro, J.H., "The Sharks of North America", Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 202–205; "First record of the goblin shark Mitsukurina owstoni, Jordan (family Mitsukurinidae) in the Gulf of Mexico", Southeastern Naturalist, 2002, p. 189–192; Pimiento, "Evolutionary pathways toward gigantism in sharks and rays", Evolution, 2019, p. 588–599; Compagno, L.J.V., "Sharks of the W en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Goblin shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "First record of the goblin shark Mitsukurina owstoni, Jordan (family Mitsukurinidae) in the Gulf of Mexico", Southeastern Naturalist, 2002, p. 189–192 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Goblin shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Compagno, L.J.V., "Sharks of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date (Volume 2)", Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2002, p. 68–71; "Sharks and Rays of Australia", Harvard University Press, 2009, p. 156–157 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Goblin shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Yano, "Some aspects of the biology of the goblin shark, Mitsukurina owstoni, collected from the Tokyo Submarine Canyon and adjacent waters, Japan", Ichthyological Research, 2007-11-01, p. 388–398 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Goblin shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Martin, R.A., "Biology of the Goblin Shark", ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research; Castro, J.H., "The Sharks of North America", Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 202–205; Martin, R.A., "Deep Sea: Goblin Shark", ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research; Ebert, D.A., "Sharks, Rays, and Chimaeras of California", University of California Press, 2003, p. 96–97; Izawa, K., "Echthrogaleus mitsukurinae sp. nov (Copepoda, Siphonostomatoida, Pandaridae) infesting the goblin shark Mitsukurina owstoni Jordan, 1898 in Japanese waters", Crustaceana, 2012, p. en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Goblin shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Compagno, L.J.V., "Sharks of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date (Volume 2)", Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2002, p. 68–71; Martin, R.A., "Biology of the Goblin Shark", ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Goblin shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Slingshot feeding of the goblin shark Mitsukurina owstoni (Pisces: Lamniformes: Mitsukurinidae)", Scientific Reports, 2016 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Goblin shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Some aspects of the biology of the goblin shark, Mitsukurina owstoni, collected from the Tokyo Submarine Canyon and adjacent waters, Japan", Ichthyological Research, 2007, p. 388–398 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Goblin shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ebert, D.A., "Sharks, Rays, and Chimaeras of California", University of California Press, 2003, p. 96–97 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Goblin shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Everington, "Record 800 kg goblin shark with 6 pups caught off northeast Taiwan", taiwannews.com.tw/, 14 June 2023; Finucci, B., "Mitsukurina owstoni", 2018; Castro, J.H., "The Sharks of North America", Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 202–205; Finucci, B., "Mitsukurina owstoni", 2018; Castro, J.H., "The Sharks of North America", Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 202–205; Caltabellotta, "Preliminary age and growth of the deep-water goblin shark Mitsukurina owstoni (Jordan, 1898)", Marine and Freshwater Research, 2020-08-20, p. 432 (we als en.wikipedia.org
  13. Wikipedia, "Goblin shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Parsons, "First Record of the Goblin Shark Mitsukurina owstoni, Jordan (Family Mitsukurinidae) in the Gulf of Mexico", Southeastern Naturalist, 2002, p. 189–192; "A glimpse of the Goblin Shark - 𝘔𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘶𝘬𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘰𝘸𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪", youtube.com, November 12, 2024 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  14. Wikipedia, "Goblin shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hussakof, "The Newly Discovered Goblin Shark of Japan", Scientific American, 1910, p. 186–187 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  15. Wikipedia, "Goblin shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Compagno, L.J.V., "Sharks of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date (Volume 2)", Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2002, p. 68–71; "Goblin shark caught alive", Tokyo Zoo Net, January 25, 2007; Finucci, B., "Mitsukurina owstoni", 2018; Compagno, L.J.V., "Sharks of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date (Volume 2)", Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2002, p. 68–71; Bean, B.A., "Notes on an adult goblin shark (Mits en.wikipedia.org
  16. Wikipedia, "Goblin shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Finucci, B., "Mitsukurina owstoni", 2018 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  17. Wikipedia, "Goblin shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Finucci, B., "Mitsukurina owstoni", 2018; Duffy, "Conservation status of New Zealand chondrichthyans (chimaeras, sharks and rays), 2016", Department of Conservation, 2018, p. 10 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  18. Wikipedia, "Goblin shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jordan, D.S., "Description of a species of fish (Mitsukurina owstoni) from Japan, the type of a distinct family of lamnoid sharks", Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Zoology, 1898, p. 199–204 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  19. Wikipedia, "Goblin shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hussakof, L., "A new goblin shark, Scapanorhynchus jordani, from Japan", Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 1909, p. 257–262 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  20. Wikipedia, "Goblin shark" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Shirai, S., "Interrelationships of Fishes", Academic Press, 1996, p. 9–34; Shimada, K., "Phylogeny of lamniform sharks (Chondrichthyes: Elasmobranchii) and the contribution of dental characters to lamniform systematics", Paleontological Research, 2005, p. 55–72; "Molecular Systematics of Fishes", Academic Press, 1997, p. 199–218; "The Biology of Sharks and Their Relatives", CRC Press, 2012, p. 31–57 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Goblin shark (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. What is the IUCN Red List category of the goblin shark?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Least Concern.

2. In what year was the goblin shark first scientifically described?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1898.

3. To which biological family does the goblin shark belong?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Mitsukurinidae.

Answers checked against the source article

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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