AY Honors/Species Account/Mitsukurina owstoni

Mitsukurina owstoni

Goblin Shark (Mitsukurina owstoni)

Where found: In the Atlantic Ocean, it has been recorded from the northern Gulf of Mexico, Suriname, French Guiana, and southern Brazil in the west, and France, Portugal, Madeira, and Senegal in the east. In the Indo-Pacific and Oceania, it has been found off South Africa, Mozambique, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand. A single eastern Pacific specimen is known, collected off southern California.

Description: A rare, poorly understood species of deep-sea shark. Sometimes called a "living fossil", this pink-skinned shark 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. Little is known about goblin shark reproduction because a pregnant female has yet to be found and studied.